


some unknown universe

by hey_mickey



Series: Mickey's Umbrellas [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Aliens, All the Hargreeves are ALIENS, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Cause I Said So, Dysfunctional Family, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fighting in an Intergalactic Space War is Family Bonding, Hurt/Comfort, I Heard a Rumor That There's No Incest, I gave them all bonus powers too, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Klaus goes Dark, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Other, Space Battles, Threats of Violence, War, Whump, because klaus, but not really, casual mentions of drugs, cause he's alive in this fic, except not really, i have no idea what else to put here, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-07-27 10:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 64,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20044144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hey_mickey/pseuds/hey_mickey
Summary: For almost 30 years, the collection of planets known as the Umbrella Alliance has been fighting back a dark force only known as Aeternalis. The president of the Alliance, Reginald Hargreeves had created a team, known as the Academy to fight them.And now, thirty years since the fighting began, Hargreeves is dead. With the future of the Alliance at stake, the former Academy members drag themselves to their “father’s” door, all claiming the coveted title of President and forcing a reunion that none of them ever wanted.With Aeternalis closing in by the day, the Academy will have to become a team once more. Or die trying.





	1. now i'm only falling apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And I need you now tonight  
And I need you more than ever  
And if you only hold me tight  
We'll be holding on forever
> 
> -Total Eclipse of The Heart, Bonnie Tyler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New fic, New Writing style!
> 
> These chapters will be shorter than my last fic's chapters but I promise they'll be just as good, (maybe even better lmao)
> 
> In the bottom notes I'll list the extra powers the Hargreeves have in this story, they're not super major but i wanted to give Reggie new ways to be a dick so that's kinda why they have them

_Thirteen years before the births of the members of the Academy, Sir Reginald Hargreeves was signing a contract- combing the power of seven different planets into one group: The Umbrella Alliance._

_The planets in this alliance were chosen for a specific reason, all seven had natural- what could be described as “superpowers” and all seven had the potential for a project Hargreeves was working on._

_Thirteen years later, forty-three women from all seven planets randomly gave birth with no indication that they had been pregnant when the day (or night) began. Hargreeves, thrilled with the results, collected all forty-three of them._

_He kept only seven, one from each planet. With their natural powers from their home planets combined with new superpowers, these children were the next step in a plan of Hargreeves._

_Three days after the children were announced to the Alliance, an unknown force declared war, determined to get their hands on these new types of people._

_For thirty long years, the war has continued on……_

* * *

His body had never felt so heavy in his thirty years of life as it now did, leaning him heavily over his slow-dragging feet as he tramped down the metal ramp to the floor. His eyes were lidded, barely flickering from one solemn face to another as he cleared a path towards the massive door. Every step louder than the last, every moment stretched into eternity, every movement blurry and distant. He tilted his head, trying to right the world that had suddenly turned upside down in an instant.

The murmur of the other people behind him faded and Luther stepped out into the mocking sunshine, his head heavy and weighed down. He lifted one of his hands up to shield his face from the glaring sun, and looked up towards the sky that he’d been flying through almost an hour ago, blissfully unaware. 

He passed through the security gates at the front entrance of the air force base, simply nodding at the two guards stationed at the front. Ignoring their pity-filled faces, he clambered into his vehicle and quickly turned the car on, jumping into the mass of traffic that never seemed to go away.

It feels wrong. The world feels wrong. Luther’s gaze drifted from the street in front of him to the other driver’s faces through their windows. Nobody looks as though the world is twisted onto it’s back, forced into position by an unseen hand, struggling to right itself.

He doesn’t realize that he’s supposed to be moving until a loud blare of a horn sounded behind him, an angry driver shouting furious words at the back of Luther’s head. As though moving through molasses, Luther pressed the gas, jerking forward towards his destination.

When he arrived at the gates of his father’s house, the guards don’t even hesitate. They take one look at his face, shambled and broken, and gesture for him to head inside. The doors looked the same as the last time he had been here, listening to his father’s crazed ramblings about Aeternalis assassins coming to kill him in his sleep. It had been easy to play off Dad’s frequent delusions with reassurances but now doubt clouded Luther’s mind.

Had his father been right? Had an Aeternalis assassin snuck in? Had Luther not been there during the last breaths of his father as the enemy stood above him, gloating in victory?

There wasn’t anything he can do about it now, was there?

Approaching the front doors of the home of his Dad, Luther inwardly scoffed. Saying there was nothing he could do about it was a very cynical way of looking at it. Almost  _ Klaus-like _ if he thought about it, but immediately regretted thinking like that.

He entered the home, the tall ceilings and golden arches the same as they were before. But the general feelings of uneasiness and dread that had prickled under his skin since he’d gotten the news grew worse.

_ He’d been flying in from an unsuccessful air raid, the engines whirring in a familiar beat when the transmission raid crackled, “Number One!” At the time, he’d sighed, his father’s voice as terrified and paranoid as ever.  _

_ “What is it, Dad?” _

_ “There are other people in the house, Number One!” _

_ “It's probably just Grace and Pogo, Dad,” Luther said tiredly, absently flipping switches. The entire plane jolted with the force of his father’s shout, “NO! Do you truly think that Grace or Pogo is capable of sneaking up on me? Nonsense, Number One. It must be the Aeternalis! That’s the only explanation. They’ve finally come to get me.” _

_ Barely veiling his sarcasm, Luther checked both sides of his craft before changing direction, “The Aeternalis hasn’t been near the capitol in months, Dad. They’ve been attacking other nearby planets. If they were anywhere near you, then I’m sure there would have been an alert sent up. There’s no need to worry.” _

_ That had been the last words he’d ever said to his Dad, for twenty minutes later, an announcement went out over the intercom.  _

_ The only words it said: The President is dead. _

His footsteps shift the floorboards and he quickly shuffled through each room, barely sparing a glance at the dust-covered furniture, only stopping to trail his gaze on the painting of Number Five in the living room, his eyes shifting colors, giving the illusion of life. Luther shook off his stupor and continued on, directly towards his father’s room. Outside the grand entrance to the door are the familiar figures of Grace and Pogo, muttering together, their voices a mix of anger and sadness. 

“Mom? Pogo?” Luther asked, stepping into the slanted light flooding in through the window.

“Oh,” their muttering ceased and Grace stepped forwards, smoothing down her dress, her eyes the warm coffee color of concern, “Hello, Luther dear, How have you been?”

“I want to see him,” He replied in lieu of an answer, “Right now.”

“We simply cannot allow you to,” Pogo’s elegant voice cut in, “There is currently an investigation happening inside. We’re not supposed to let anyone in.”

“Well, ask them to make an exception,” Luther demanded.

“I’m afraid that is not possible.”

“Make it possible,” his voice dips down to a threatening level, forcing Pogo back.

Pogo audibly swallows, a sound only heard due to the utter silence of the room after Luther’s threat, “Of course.”

He righted himself, gingerly fixing himself up as though he hadn’t fumbled backwards moments ago and made for the door before entering the room. Luther watched him go, anger seething in his eyes. As soon as he entered the room, Grace headed over to Luther, fixing his collar. 

“Are okay sweetheart?” She asked, looking up at him. He met her eyes, oddly irked by the fact that he was taller than his mom now.

“Not really,” he said, gently removing her from his shirt, “Dad’s dead.”

Mom’s eyes flickered with an unknown color quickly before heading back to their normal calm blue, “I’m aware that your father is dead. I was asking about  **you.** After all, your siblings will be arriving soon.”

“For another funeral,” observed Luther, “Second one in ten months. But this one is different.”

“Very different,” agreed Mom, “It is your father.”

“No,” Luther snapped, “It’s not just my father. It’s also the President of an Alliance on the verge of collapse. We’ve only lasted as long as we have because of him, with him gone, there’s not much time left.”

“Your father was a great man,” Mom replied, ignoring Luther’s sharp wince, “But he didn’t make the Academy for nothing. I’m sure that even with him gone this war will be won.”

“I doubt it.”

“Well, then,” Mom’s eyebrow lifted in irritation or maybe concern, “You should be ready to attend more funerals soon if that’s your perspective.”

Unable to come up with anything to retrot back, Luther turned his back on Grace, staring at the paintings hanging down the winding hallway. In each one was a group of children and a weary-looking old man with a monocle. As the paintings progressed, the children grew to match their father, older and more worn-down, before one disappeared, never to be seen in the paintings again. Luther put a hand on one of the children’s faces: his own, it would appear, before exclaiming, “When will the others get here?”

“Soon,” she answered, walking away from him. She stopped, her eyes trailing down his back before continuing, “Try not to make a scene like last time, hmm?”

There’s a noncommittal hum of agreement from him. Satisfied, she headed away from the hallway, the echo of her heels long and drawn-out, before eventually fading away. Luther waited for her heels to stop sounding, before quietly moving towards the door where his father’s body should be at rest. Pressing his ear against the door, he could hear no movement on the other side- weird, wasn’t Pogo supposed to be in there?

Carefully and slowly, he pried the door open, flinching at every creaky moan the door let out. He entered the room of his father, a place he’d never been before, never in his wildest dreams. As a kid, he’d imagined his father living in a room of only important things, surely the man who brought together seven planets would only keep the most important knick-knacks and items.

He was bitterly disappointed by the amount of nothing in the once-magical room.

There’s a body on the bed. Luther headed for it, eventually stopping to stare at it. Reginald Hargreeves was in a state of peace he never had been in real life, the angry lines and hard shape of his face had softened in death, leaving simply an old man who kicked it in a house of nothing. However, Luther’s eyes flickered up and down looking for the signature thing that made his father, ‘Reginald Hargreeves.’

“Where’s the monocle?” he muttered aloud, hands searching the cabinets besides his father’s bedside. “It’s not-” 

Spotting something out of the corner of Luther eyes and he started forwards, leaning over the small teacup on the bedside. The teacup looked ordinary. But as he ran his finger on the side of the cup and the finger was coated with a thin white sludge.

“Shit, Dad.”

Snatching the teacup off the mantel was simpler than he thought it would be. Luther, holding the teacup to his chest, scurried out of his father’s door. He headed down toward the kitchen, lost in thought.

It had always been a possibility that his father would die from assassination. They were locked in a war and he was leading one side of it, the other showing no signs of slowing down at any point in time. It was war, and people would take what they could get. But as he ran through the list of known Aeternalis assassins, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Gamma, Kappa- none of them seemed like the poisoning type. In fact, as far as he could remember, Aeternalis assassins had never poisoned anyone, least of all stole a monocle that no one cared about.

One thing was clear in his mind, Whoever had killed Reginald Hargreeves held a personal grudge. And he could only think of eight people who had those grudges.

“Mom,” He called, entering the kitchen. She spun around from where she was chopping up cucumbers, a knife still in her head. Her eyes had shifted to a light purple, curious.

“When will the others get here again?”

Cocking her head to the side, Mom blinked once and twice as if waiting to hear something. Sure enough, the rumbling of an engine sounded outside then sputtered out.

“Right now it appears!” 

Luther squared his shoulders, standing tall and left the room, ready to confront his siblings. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the list of Powers! (I'm not saying which Hargreeves gets which though, figure it out!)
> 
> Extreme Tolerance to Extreme Enviornments  
Accelerated Healing  
Invisability  
Levatation  
Mood- Changing Eyes/ Markings  
Regrowing Limbs  
Hardening Body
> 
> Next Time: Vanya arrives to her childhood home and feels sad about things.


	2. my isolation, it's an illusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Climb into my corner, my self inflicted coma  
Stand up, lay down, repeat in the same order  
Fall straight through the floor and let the time just run me over
> 
> -House of Glass, Cage the Elephant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy with this fic right now you have no idea.
> 
> UGH I'M SO READY TO WRITE THIS MONSTER

If she was honest, she was getting tired of funerals. Yes, they were sad, yes, she always broke down during them, sobbing with her whole body as she mourned, but there was a limit to how much she could take and she’d only been to two funerals in her thirty years of life. She had no desire to go to a third, for her father no less.

Vanya Hargreeves hated her father. She’d made that abundantly clear in every moment she’d spent with him. She’d made it clear when she was the first one to leave the home, getting as far away from him and the crazy politics and violence that surrounded him in everything he did. She’d made it clear in the few interviews she’d had, aggressively blaming everything bad that had happened on the Academy and her father. 

Other people got drunk, went to parties and destroyed their parents’ homes as their teen rebellion: Vanya had trashed her father’s name. She had danced on a thin tightrope and fell clattering to the floor, all the strength that had kept her together through her teen years gone. 

She’d been nothing after that.

The last funeral she had been to was one she’d never forget, ten months ago. Upon entering the mansion, every single person in there had turned on her. It was her fault that the war dragged on so long, It was her fault that Reginald Hargreeves’ name was so badly damaged that he couldn’t stir up his troops anymore, It was her fault.

It was her fault that Dave was gone.

The last one had been screamed at her by Klaus, tears mixed with heavy black mascara dripping down his face and face twisted in agony. The spark in his eyes dead and gone, just like the ghosts he saw. And she apologized, as she so often did now, she apologized to her brother for taking Dave, even if she wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger. He’d slammed his mouth shut, eyes gone and turned his back to her, sinking to the floor in front of Dave’s casket. Ben had wrapped his arms around Klaus and squeezed, swaying him back and forth and saying nothing. The others had quietly joined them, silent and reassuring. Instead of joining the huddle, Vanya had left, tears prickling and Klaus’ words ringing in her ears.

She had gotten a message from Klaus, three days later, that he knew who had killed Dave and that he was going after them and she had wished him good luck. 

She wished she said something else. 

No time to dwell on that though, she told herself, She had a funeral to attend.

Taking a shaky breath, she approached the mansion, forcing one foot in front of the other until she was at the front door. Her hand lifted to knock on the hardwood, but the door suddenly swung open, revealing Luther. 

His face was slightly wrinkled but he gazed down at her with a nod, “Vanya.”

“Luther,” She replied trying to match his cool tone, but it came out as more of a squeak.

They stood in the doorway of the mansion for a good amount of time as Luther assessed her, glancing at something in his hands before looking back at her. He did this for so long that her leg started to cramp, forcing her to shift awkwardly to the other one.

“Come on,” He seemed to have reached some sort of conclusion in his head because he slid to the side to let her in the door, “You’re the first one back.”

“Really?” Her voice was still nervous, “I would think Ben or Allison would've gotten here before me.”

“Me too,” he said, leading her towards the living room, “But I guess, they must be late for once.”

“Oh. That’s odd.”

“Yea,” There’s a tinge of suspicion in his voice, “It is.”

They reached the living room doors and Luther sat down on a creamy couch that they had sat down together often as children. Vanya settled on the opposite couch, purposefully ignoring Five’s painting on her left. She didn’t need more painful memories coming up today. Not any more that were already coming up.

She gave a quick and hesitant smile up at him, but shrank back when she knew he didn’t even notice her, lost in thought. Her gaze traveled around the room, eventually landing on the small teacup Luther was cradling in his hands. 

Vanya didn’t really know her stance on Luther, her heart always split into two when it came down to it. On one side she held memories of him cradling her after  _ that night,  _ running his hands through her messy hair and assuring her that it would all be ok. She remembered him pulling her away from- she couldn’t even name it- and telling her to leave it, to leave  _ him.  _ Even though she had screamed and screamed, tears blurring her vision, Luther’s hands had pulled her backwards, sturdy and gentle.

On the other he was the favorite. The special one. The loved one. Just like the others, she had no idea what went on between him and their father whenever they spoke, but she did know it was kinder than what she went through and that built childish resentment that lasted long -probably forever- if she was honest.

“Vanya,” Luther spoke, cutting off her train of thought. She looked up to him. 

“I can’t see you.”

“Oh.” Her powers did that sometimes, rendering her unseen if she lost control. Carefully, she began to pull through her gut, letting the colors flood through her body again.

Luther coughed awkwardly, “So I was thinking-” He’s cut off by the ring of the doorbell, and only one Academy member ever rings doors. Vanya watched with veiled amusement as Luther scrambled over to the door, opening it for Allison. She looked pretty good, all things considered. 

“Hey sis,” Allison said, giving a little wave as she filed into the living room. Vanya gave her a careful nod in response. Luther shut the door behind Allison and moved around the couch to sit next to her. Another silence followed suit, broken by Mom, carrying in a plate of cucumber sandwiches.

“Hello Allison, sweetheart,” Mom said, giving Allison a hug then turning her attention to Vanya, “And of course, Vanya.”

Vanya’s thin-lipped smile must showed her unease because Mom’s eyes change to the color of hurt feelings -dark green- before changing back to blue. Mom, promptly ignoring her own display of emotion, left the room, leaving Allison, Vanya and Luther alone.

“So as I was going to say,” Luther picked up on his conversation from earlier, “There’s something suspicious about Dad’s death.”

“Suspicious?” asked Allison, a cucumber sandwich halfway to her mouth, “What kind of suspicious? Like assassin suspicious or like uncomfy suspicious?”

“Not assassin suspicious,” confirmed Luther, “Unless you think one of them would resort to poisoning.”

“Poisoning?” Vanya cut in, “The report that I was sent said heart failure.”

“Yea well, it’s wrong.”

Allison bit into her sandwich thoughtfully, “How is it wrong? I’m not saying I don’t believe you, Luther. But there should be proof before you go blaming assassins.”

“I never said anything about assassins,” Luther set the teacup Vanya had noticed him playing with on the table with a clack, “But take a look at this,” He took one of his fingers and wiped it across the rim of the cup, raising his black-gloved hand to show them it was covered in an eerie white sludge.

“What.. what is that?” Vanya found herself asking.

“I have no idea,” Luther admitted, “It’s really suspicious and I wanted to tell you two first because..” There’s a pause as Luther seemed to weigh his words carefully, “The monocle was also missing.”

“The monocle?” Allison’s voice is dry, “Dad’s monocle? That thing is a piece of junk, who would want to take that?”

“Someone with a grudge.”

“You’re kidding,” Allison spat, setting her sandwich down, “You really think one of us would do it? For what? Attention? Fame? The Presidency? There’s a war- that we are losing- happening right now and that  **last** thing anyone needs is a dead leader. That’s bullshit, Luther.”

“I never said anything about you guys.”

“You insinuated it.”

“Guys,” Vanya interrupted before the two of them could hurl themselves at each other, “We should wait. And discuss this with the others when they get here.”

“We can’t do that either,” Luther replied, ignoring Allison’s gasp of protest.

“Why not?”

“Well,” His shoulders swaying awkwardly, Luther tried to finish his thought, “What if..”

“You think one of our brothers did it?” Allison shrilled, “That’s insane, Luther!”

“It’s not that far-fetched of a theory!” protested Luther, “You’ve all seen how Klaus has been acting lately.”

“His husband  _ died _ ,” Allison stressed, her eyes widening as she articulated her point, “Can you really blame him? He’s in mourning. I can’t even imagine what he’s going through right now.”

Vanya nodded, “It’s hard to lose someone close to you, Luther. You can’t blame Klaus completely for everything he’s doing right now, he’s trying to cope.”

“Well, then. What about Diego?” Luther pressed, “He doesn’t like Dad and he’s said that he doesn’t think Dad is a good leader.”

“I can’t believe that you’re just throwing accusations around. Who are you going to say did it next? Ben? Five?” Allison bit her lip as she noticed Vanya’s flinch at the mention of Five, “You can’t just accuse people of that, Luther. It’s treason. Especially at times like this.”

Luther widened his eyes at that and Vanya realized he hadn’t actually thought about that before throwing around those accusations. So nothing really had changed in the few months since she’d last seen her siblings. 

“Look,” She said, looking Luther in the eyes, “Just drop it Luther. Klaus didn’t kill Dad. Diego didn’t kill Dad. Ben didn’t kill Dad. Allison didn’t kill Dad. No one in this family killed Dad. It doesn’t matter how he died because now he’s gone, and there’s nothing we can do. What we need to do now is figure out how to move forward. Because I don’t know if you noticed, but we are in a war right now and our leader just died. Morale was already low before and it’s going to be worse now.”

“Vanya’s right,” Vanya stopped to look at Allison, who had a frown on her face. A warm unfamiliar feeling formed in Vanya’s chest that she gently held onto, taking in that feeling and letting it grow. 

“We need to figure out how we’re going to proceed. Not look back on things we could’ve done,” Allison’s voice is strong, stronger than Vanya’s. It was obvious why she was one of the most successful Academy members, her presence exuded a light and warmth that masked her lies and rumors. Perfect for her job, really. Vanya observed, as a politician.

Allison’s next words are careful and deliberate, “We’re going to need some hope if we even want a fighting chance, Luther. We’re going to need to do this ourselves. We’re going to need the Academy again.”

He sighed, sad and defeated, “Diego’s going to agree with you, I know it. He’s been pushing for this for years.”

“I had a lot of time to think about it,” Allison replied, her back straight and voice clear. She was clearly using her political speech training to its fullest advantage, “And it’s exactly what we need. We have the opportunity, right now, before we lose everything to the Aeternalis. We’ve already lost one of our own.” There’s a pause in her speech as the entire room glanced up at the looming painting of Five. 

“Ben lost his legs. Klaus lost Dave. It’s only a matter of time,” finished Allison, her eyes trained on Luther’s skeptical face, “We have no reason to sit here and twiddle our thumbs while there are so many people out there, hoping for a win. If the Academy comes back, if we come back-”

“Alright,” Luther gave in to Allison’s pressure, “Yea, ok. I’ll ask the others when they get here. But. ok.”

Allison let out a sigh of relief, like she hadn’t expected her angry speech to have worked. She settled back on the couch, her golden hair messy. Expectantly, she met Vanya’s gaze and tilted her head in a ‘go-on’ motion.

Vanya closed her eyes, weighing her options. When she had been a part of the Academy, she relished the looks on the faces of children on the streets. Eyes that had once been traumatized beyond belief, lighting up with the joy of seeing ‘real-life superheroes’ coming to save the day. What she hadn’t realized back then was that she was also a child, eyes filled with horrors no one should be forced to see, least of all a kid.

The Academy were kids just as much as anyone else. But they had felt infallible, unstoppable. No one could touch them. So when something did, when one of them was gone, reality had set in for Vanya. She’d left, at just thirteen years old, unwilling to be a part of it any longer. 

But she was an adult now. Her angsty, hormone-filled years were behind her. And she wanted to give people the same hope she had seen back then. She missed that, not the violence, not the thrill of using her powers, but the looks on people's faces when they saw the Academy coming to save the day.

She made up her mind.

“Luther.”

He looked at her, awkwardly at first before leveling off his gaze to stare her in the eyes.

“If you’re getting the gang back together, then I’ll be a part of it.”

Allison’s smile is big and wide, Luther’s face is full of shock, but he nodded, accepting her decision.

Vanya immediately regretted it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it wasn't pointed out already. Grace has the alien power of Mood-Changing Eyes and Markings. 
> 
> And Vanya's extra power is invisibility.
> 
> Next time: Klaus contemplates murder with help from Ben.


	3. my life is like a pill that's getting harder to swallow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But I don't wanna think about that anymore  
And just because I woke up on someone's floor  
And asked "where the hell am I?"  
I didn't know it felt good to cry
> 
> \- By Myself, FIDLAR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't know if it was clear but the chapter titles are from the songs in the summaries?
> 
> Also the Aeternalis assassins are all named after symbols in the greek alphabet, they're also mostly unimportant characters

Temporary was a word that Klaus knew like the creases on his palm, both figuratively and literally- the tattoo artist had told him the words inscribed on his palms were temporary. (He’d been high as a kite while getting them so even if it had hurt for days afterwards, he hadn’t felt it in the moment). 

Most good things in his life were temporary. The drugs would disappear, the nicer ghosts would come and go- leaving the angry ones behind (with a war happening there were a lot of angry ones), his sense of what was happening around him was often fleeting, home was a place that had eluded him for years.

And then Klaus met Dave.

And the world fixed itself in front of him.

Suddenly he had a stable home and a sturdy shoulder to cry on. And cry on it he did. Klaus let everything out around Dave. The ghosts, the death of his brother, the drugs and the partying and the stupid stunts for attention that he thought he wanted from his father. All of it.

It was Dave that had helped him find a job that helped the war effort and himself; talking to the spirits of soldiers and sending in locations of Aeternalis troops. It made him comfortable with the ghosts and gave him an outlet for his attention-seeking. 

It was Dave who held him as he detoxed in their shared bedroom, fingers running through his hair and whispered “I love you” and “Stay strong Klaus” in his ear. The two of them had curled around each other for hours, Dave helping Klaus through each shaking fit and all the hallucinations. His hands were kept on Klaus’ shoulders and the two of them had taken the brunt of it all together.

It was Dave who’d held Klaus’ hands as the exchanged vows in secret, his smile watery and grip steadily growing tighter and tighter as the moment approached, When it came, Dave had swooped Klaus off his feet, tangled his hands in Klaus’ hair and kissed him deeply. Klaus hadn’t felt that high since the last time he’d taken drugs, almost two years ago to that day.

It was Dave who agreed to take Ben in after the home he had been living in had been blown up by an air raid. Ben, Klaus’ brother, whose legs had been destroyed by his own powers during a mission at seventeen, one of the last the Academy did together. Crippled to a wheelchair, Ben had told Klaus and Dave that they didn’t need to go out of their way to help him,but Dave- wonderful, kind Dave- began to build ramps and wheelchair accommodations around their home.

It was Dave who’d gone out on a trip and seen what the Aeternalis was doing to the other planets in their system. He’d cried to Klaus about it, begging Klaus to let him help those people, do what Klaus had done as a kid. And Klaus had refused again and again, until finally relenting and letting Dave go.

Three years after that, and Dave had been unjustly executed while helping another soldier to an ambulance. There had been no fighting going on at the moment, the shot had been fired behind their lines, not on a battlefield. Which could only mean one thing. It was one of the Aeternalis assassins. Sent there to kill Dave. Because somehow, some way, it must’ve gotten out that Dave was married to an Academy member and that was a death sentence. 

Klaus wasn’t even informed of his death until three days later when a young woman came to his door, with flowers and apologies. 

“He died protecting me,” she had said, her heart clearly breaking at the blank look on Klaus’ face, “I saw your letter to him in his pocket and I wanted to tell you in person.”

“Ok,” Klaus mumbled blankly, “Thank you.”

He took the flowers in his arms and shut the door in her face, nothing really registering until Klaus collapsed onto the floor wracked with sobs and his body shaking. Half the sounds that burst forth were simply dry sobs and the other half was Dave’s name. 

Ben found him there, passed out, five hours later.

After rousing Klaus and gently helping (well as much as a guy in a wheelchair could help) him to his bed, Ben managed to get the entire story out of Klaus, though there was a lot of tears and moments where Klaus had to stop and pant. And Ben took it all in stride, holding Klaus and wiping the tears off his face. 

“You need some sleep Klaus,” Ben told him, “Why don’t you sleep?”

“I don’t know if I can ever sleep again.”

“Then, I’ll sleep next to you.” Ben says because it’s just that simple, “Ok? You need some rest.”

When the morning came, nothing was the same. Everything that Klaus and Dave had built up for nine years, everything permanent that they had was gone. Most good things in life were temporary, Klaus realized, even Dave. Ben, for his part, had tried. Tried to help Klaus, tried everything he could to bring back what Dave had given Klaus. But when nothing Ben did could work, bring back that spark, he did what he did best and researched. 

Ben, when his legs wouldn’t work anymore had settled down to do what he called,  _ intel gathering  _ but Klaus just called it nerd shit. He spent his time trying to research the Aeternalis and how they worked, convinced that he could discover the secret to their success in combat. But now all his skills were being used for something personal. For Klaus.

In four days time, Ben found out which Aeternalis assassin had fired the bullet into Dave. Out of the three that were at the battle ground- Kappa, Epsilon and Delta- Epsilon had the most matches in all the simulations Ben ran, the technique and bullet casings matched previous assassinations linked to them.

He told Klaus about his discovery, only to be met with a scoff, “What kind of name is that? Only someone who hated their kids would name their fucking kid  _ Epsilon. _ ”

“They’re assassins, Klaus. They don’t need good names.”

“Whatever.”

But as soon as Ben had told Klaus who had ended Dave’s life. Who had ended Klaus’ happiness. That name was all Klaus could think about. 

When Ben left, Klaus had quickly gone over to his brother’s computer and pulled up everything he could on the assassin. Which wasn’t much because no one had ever seen them or if they had, then they were dead. Klaus took one look at the files and swore to himself that whatever it took, whoever he had to cut down to get to the person that had made everything temporary again, he was going to kill Epsilon with his own two hands. 

And now he found himself standing at the door to the Hargreeves family mansion, heading to another funeral. Granted it was one he had always wanted to happen, but still awful memories came back to him, Dave’s body in a casket, sinking into the ground, never to hold him again.

Klaus swallowed. 

“You know,” said a voice besides him, making Klaus shoot a foot in the air, “You should really apologize to Vanya.”

“GEE-sus Ben!” Klaus placed a hand over his heart, “You need a bell or something.”

“If you put a bell on me, I will kick you.” Ben replied coolly, “But you should.”

“Why do I need to apologize to her? Vanya seemed cool with me the last time I saw her. She wished me luck on my Epsilon hunt.” 

“You yelled at her the last time you were face-to-face,” Ben’s hands reach for the wheels of his wheelchair, pushing himself into the house, “You were kinda a dick to be honest.”

“That’s basically my whole personality,” Klaus reached into his pocket, pulling out a packet of pills. Quickly, he dropped some into his mouth, ignoring Ben’s sad gaze, “But sure I’ll apologize. I bet it will make her feel better.”

“Yea,” Ben said, rolling through the doorway, “I’m sure it will.”

The two of them headed into the house together, the sounds of Klaus’ footsteps and Ben’s wheels creaking on the hardwood floors of their childhood. The place looked very similar but there was a musty smell in the air, something that their father wouldn’t have tolerated if he was alive. 

“Oh shit,” Klaus said, stopping in the middle of the hallways, causing Ben’s wheelchair to thump against his heels, “What if I see Dad’s ghost? I don’t want that guy haunting me for the rest of my shitty life.”

“He died of heart failure, dumbass,” Ben replied, “That’s what it said in the report we were sent. Don’t you only see the ghosts from violent deaths? That’s what you used to say, when we were kids.”

“Yea sorta, but given my luck, Dad’s going to haunt me and give me angry political speeches about the drugs I’m taking,” spit Klaus, kicking at nothing, then beginning an imitation of Reginald “You aren’t using that weed the right way, Number Four! Try it again!”

Against his better nature, Ben snorted with laughter, “Would Dad even know how to smoke weed? Or do anything with weed for that matter?”

“He’s Dad, he might,” said Klaus with a shrug, “He always seemed to know how to do everything.”

“I doubt that,” Ben said with an eye roll, just as they began to approach the living room. Voices began to echo down the hall and Klaus picked up his pace, ready to intrude into another vicious Hargreeves argument.

What he wasn’t expecting was calm chatter. 

Each of his siblings were there. Allison and Luther, together on the couch. Allison’s face was smug and Luther’s accepting. Vanya sat across from them, staring at her shoes as though they were the most interesting things in her life and Diego was slumped in the corner, his face a mirror to Allison’s.

“Uh…” Klaus started, “Hi?”

They all look up at him, except Vanya who continued to stare at her shoes. Klaus opened his arms and practically flew into the room, “Why are we all sitting here talking? Don’t we have a funeral to attend?”

“Please, like anyone actually gives a shit about that,” Diego scoffed, twisting on of his knives. Oh how, Klaus missed his brother’s lack of tact. It was amazing that Diego was a respected general at all, with his unpleasant attitude and angry glower. 

“I bet Luther gives a shit about Dad!” Klaus replied, looking towards his taller brother with a grin. 

Luther flinched but didn’t respond, which was weird. Normally by insulting Dad, you could easily rile him up, but apparently not today. Luther just looked tired, if Klaus was being honest, Really tired.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Luther sighed, unclasping his hands and standing in front of the others. Klaus, spotting the cucumber sandwiches, quickly snatched a couple. He then settled down on an armchair. Ben moved his wheelchair so that he was next to Vanya’s position on the couch and gave her a small hesitant smile.

“So,” Luther said awkwardly, gazing at all the expectant faces, “Allison, Diego, Vanya and… I have decided to reform the Academy.”

Looking back on it, that was the last thing Klaus expected him to say. His hand released the cucumber sandwich he had been holding, dropping it onto the floor. 

“What?” He and Ben say at the exact same time and Luther sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Yea so.. We’re going…..to..”

“We’re rejoining the war effort,” Diego saves Luther from his frankly quite embarrassing speech, “As a team. 

If there’s any protest, any internal debate from any of them, it’s quickly squashed down. Klaus’ smile widens, “Sure, I’m down. When are we going?”

For the first time in his life, Klaus is excited to head out towards the front lines. Not for the people, not for the simple fact that winning this could save billions, not even for Ben and his siblings. For Dave..

And the end of Dave’s killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic will be exploring Dark Klaus it all it's glory, it's beautiful glory
> 
> Next time: Diego debates whether he should become more of a momma's boy than he already it (theres also knives)


	4. pick me up from the floor again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On you I can depend on  
Holding on not letting go  
How can I feel alive again  
In this darkness on my own
> 
> -Behind the Mask, Ivy & Gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We haven't even reached the beginning of the first arc yet, and I feel a bit bad that I'm stretching this all out, BUT IT'S ALL IMPORTANT

The funeral is a let down. 

That’s really the only way that Diego can think to describe it. He’d always imagined Reginald Hargreeves dying in the most dramatic spectacle possible. Parades marching through the cities, celebrating his life and presidency. Diego imagined dramatic speeches from people who never truly knew his father, telling the world what a great man he was and how he led the Alliance to many victories against the Aeternalis, when really it was anything but that.

Diego had been on the front lines for years and not a single soul that he could ever recall, celebrated Reginald Hargreeves. In fact the only time he was mentioned was in passing disgust. 

So watching Luther unceremoniously dump the cremated remains of his father into a pathetic pile on the grass is a let down. 

Diego can feel his lip curl in disgust and Mom readjusted her grip on his arm. Carefully he patted her fingers and she smiled at him, her eyes shifting to a happy yellow. He gave a small smile in reply then turned back to the scene in front of him. Pogo stepped forewords, ignoring the impassive looks on everyone’s faces, “Would anyone wish to speak?”

In the silence that followed, Diego carefully studied each of his sibling’s faces, trying to gauge how they felt about this whole thing

Allison is chewing on her lip and looking anywhere but Luther. Her eyes move rapidly back and forth, which means she’s nervous and Diego doesn’t blame her for it. 

Ben’s forehead is furrowed and he’s staring at the pile of ashes as though it’ll randomly explode. Diego purposefully avoided looking at Ben’s legs because it reminded him of the mission where it all went wrong.

Diego only glanced at Klaus for a moment before averting his gaze elsewhere. There’s something dark surrounding Klaus and it’s not the normal ghostly aura he brings with him, but something Diego only saw in Aeternalis soldiers. It scared him to see it in his own brother.

Vanya is quiet, which is odd for her since she’s normally a spitball. Diego remembered watching her on interviews: he laughed and laughed as her face had gotten redder and redder on camera. Her powers had even broken a camera. 

Luther’s face is a mess of emotions to the point that Diego doesn’t even know what he’s thinking. He looked hesitant, even nervous, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words to say. 

God, he hates this. He sighed and stepped forewords, “I’ll speak.”

All of them turn to look at him, curiosity in their faces. After all- he’s one of the most vocal about his dislike for his father. But, Diego has had the words planned for this day for years.

“Dad was… A monster.”

A wild wheeze came from Klaus’s mouth as he took in Diego’s words. The others simply shift uncomfortably on their feet and wait for him to go on. And he does.

“A monster who deserved to die alone in this house like the crazy old bastard that he was. Alone and unloved by his own alliance.”

“The alliance loved Dad,” protested Luther, but there isn't heart in it. Diego ignored him and pushed on, “No they didn’t. Have you ever been to the front lines, Luther? All the troops down there, they hate him. They think he’s not strong enough of a leader to end this when it needed to be ended. They hate him.”

There’s no protest from any one, even Vanya. She looked down at her shoes and dug into the gravel on the floor. Mom carefully extracts herself from his arm, glancing at Pogo. Pogo just leaned on his cane with a sigh. 

“And we should hate him more than anyone else. He didn’t even give us names! He had Mom do it. And look what happened to Ben- hell look what happened to Five!”

He knew instantly that that was the wrong line to cross, both Vanya and Ben’s faces fall. Allison’s eyes widened and she stomped her foot in indignation, “Diego! That’s enough.”

They lock eyes, iron will versus iron will, battling with their gazes. He wants to win this, he wants to spit everything out that he’s ever felt about his father out into the gravel surrounding them. He wanted this not just for him, but to let the others know just how fucked their entire lives are. 

He lost.

Taking a step backwards, he fell back into line. Pogo cleared his throat awkwardly, “Does  _ anyone  _ else, wish to speak?”

No one does. 

There’s an uncomfortable pause where no one says anything. Then Allison, always one to lead by example, spun around and left. “I need to pack,” she threw over her shoulder.

“Miss Allison!” said Pogo, sharply, “Get back here!” 

She didn’t respond, instead pulling open the door and disappearing inside the house.

“What is she going to pack?” Piped up Klaus, his voice wheezy, “Her teen magazines?”

Laughing at his own joke, Klaus followed Allison to the door. The others watch him go, faces impassive and even on some, impressed. Eventually, they headed inside, all claiming that they needed to go to their respective homes and pack supplies, except Luther, who’d never really left. 

Diego found himself standing with Mom in the kitchen, watching Luther pace around. The hands that he ran through his short hair grew more and more frequent, until Diego was sure that Luther was going to rip out his own hair. He’s distracted from his musings by Mom’s hand on his.

“Sweetheart,” She said, her eyes coffee-brown, “You know… Your father was a good man.”

“No,” spit Diego, “No he wasn’t.” 

Mom’s face contorted, but her eyes remain the same color. It’s something that has always been a part of her. While Five, the only other person with the mood changing eyes, had always been a spitball of colors, Mom was a lot different. Her eyes were constantly warm brown of concern or cool blue of peacefulness with only occasional other colors seeping through. Diego recalled never thinking it was that weird as a child, it was just a part of who Mom was. But after being out in the world for a long time, he’d eventually noticed that something was wrong.

“Mom, Dad was a monster. He did something to you. I don’t know what he did, but..” Diego trailed off, not sure how to finish that, “ You gotta  **feel ** something Mom, something other than what Dad made you feel.”

“Your father can’t make me feel anything, silly,” She said, her voice slow as though she’s talking to a child, “He’s dead.”

Grabbing her shoulders and shaking her in his desperation wasn’t the smartest move on his part but Diego wasn’t having it anymore, “I know he’s dead, Mom. But this isn’t about him! He must’ve done something to you.”

“Not really,” She said offhandedly, “He asked me to raise you all and I agreed.”

“Is that really how it happened,” Diego’s voice is soft, “Or is that what he told you to tell us if we ever asked?”

“I don’t understand.”

“He’s a monster, Mom.” Diego told her, his grip on her shoulders tightening, “He made me throw knives at people to improve my aim, he made me hold my breath in a tank for hours upon hours, he used to make me cut myself so he could see how fast I could heal from my injuries. He doomed Five, Mom.”

Whenever someone brought up Five, Mom’s eyes would change to the dark gray of mourning. It was a known fact in the Hargreeves household. But this time, her eyes stayed blue.

“What happened to your brother was accidental, and what happened to you was all of a greater purpose.” Mom said, her eyes cool and a plastic smile on her face, “It was all so your father could end this war and he’s almost succeeded!”

Diego blinked away the wetness building in his eyes and tackled down the rising tides of fury at the words now spilling out of his mother’s mouth.

“I’ve been on the front lines, Mom,” he says instead of the thousands of other things he could say, “We aren’t winning.”

“Oh.”

“I could show you,” he said, desperate for any way to reach her, “I’ll show you the front lines. Why don’t you come with us?”

Mom cocked her head at him and breathed a puff of air, “I don’t think I’m allowed to leave the house.”

“Who cares? Dad? He’s dead, Mom. And you can do anything you want.” He took her hand with a sigh, “I want to show you the world, even the shitty parts.”

“Language.”

“Sorry.”

“Alright.”

Diego’s eyebrow raised and a small smile formed on his face, “You’ll come?” 

“Of course.Only for you sweetheart,” She said, turning away from him and heading upstairs, “I’ll get packing.”

Diego watched her go, with an odd feeling in his chest. He wanted Mom to get out of the house that she had been imprisoned in since she had joined the children in the house when they were four years old. But not like this, not in the middle of all the fighting and violence that permeated around the world outside. Hopefully his plan would work and Mom would be able to see the world without violence. If the Academy could end it as quickly as he hoped, then Mom would never be able to see the absolute carnage that was taking place on the outside world. 

Diego left to go pack with Mom’s words still bouncing around his head, determined to end this. Once and for all.

He arrived back at the mansion hours later, with just a small bag of his essentials packed. Stuff he’d missed from his small room when he was out on the field. Luther opened the door for him as he approached the house and Diego graciously accepted his brother’s small act of peace.

“Diego,” Luther said, his wide berth turning around to face Diego. His frame was so large,so monstrous that he took up the entire hallway, leaving no room for Diego to escape this conversation.

“What?”

“I want you to help me,” Luther’s face is crinkled like he’d just licked the inside of a lemon.

Diego crossed his arms over his chest grumpily, “Help you with what?”

“I want you to help me with this,” admitted Luther, “I’m supposed to be the leader of the Academy, but if I’m honest..” He paused, seeming to weigh his words, “I have no clue how to lead in wartime. I’m used to being up in the air,” He gestured up towards the sky, “Not ground fighting. And you’re a general. You know how that works. So I was wondering if you’d like to..”

Diego can’t stop the grin on his face, “Is the great Number One admitting he needs my help with something? Is he assuring me that he is not as infallible as our father would have you believe?”

“Shut up, Diego,” Luther snapped, though there’s an odd tone of affection in his voice, “This is important. I…” He took the time to glance pointedly at Five’s painting, “I don’t want to feel like another one of us died because of my incompetence.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Diego’s voice says softly, “I know you think it is. I know Vanya thinks it’s her fault. I know we all blamed ourselves. But if there’s anything being out there has taught me, it’s that war just kinda happens. It’s unfair, but you can’t blame yourself for it.”

“I guess,” Luther looked unconvinced, “But still.”

“Shut up big guy,” Diego said, “I’ll help you.”

A pulse of warmth goes up Diego’s chest at Luther’s visible look of relief, “Thank you Diego.”

“Not a problem,” Diego said, uncrossing his arms and grabbing the bag filled with his stuff behind him, “Let’s head over to the front lines.”

“Yea,” Luther’s voice is softer, nervous, “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more characters' extra powers were revealed
> 
> Five / Grace- Mood Changing Eyes  
Diego - Accelerated Healing
> 
> Next time: Ben shows his skills as a detective


	5. this is a battle i don’t want to lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cause inner demons fight their battles with fire.  
Inner demons don't play by the rules.  
They say just push them down, just fight them harder.  
Why would you give up on it so soon?
> 
> -Inner Demons, Julia Brennan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter than I can start Part One!
> 
> I'll be going on a weeklong vacation so updates might not be as frequent during that time, but the whole point of the story is the short chapter length and slow moving plot so...
> 
> idk anymore

In the end, the only complaint he would have about his wheelchair was the fact that his arms were constantly killing him. Ben had always wanted out of the war, a way out of the violence that he so often brought upon others.

He’d been in the infirmary when the news was broken to him, but he had already known. He’d been there for several days, trying to move his legs to no avail. They were now simply lumps of dead weight that hung off his body, just like one of his tentacles that had been chopped off. So when Mom told him that he would never walk again, Ben had cried happy tears, knowing he’d never been forced to kill another person again.

Five had always told him that one of the Academy members would get injured or even killed on those missions to the front lines. “It’s only a matter of time,” He’d said while pacing around Ben’s room, his mood changing eyes flickering. Dark blue, warm gray, bright red- sadness, contemplation and anger respectively. 

Little did they know it would be him that would go first. 

Ben pushed himself around the corner of the house, bored out of his mind and looking for entertainment. Klaus had told him that he would get all of Ben’s research and then some, leaving in a daze for their shared house. Ben knew in the corner of his mind that Klaus would only grab the things that  _ he  _ deemed important so he would be packing, the drug storage under the kitchen sink, the one in the medicine cabinet, the one stuffed in his socks, the one hidden in Ben’s closet and the many more that Ben  **definitely ** did not know about.

So he decided to get his hands on the items in his father’s house that could help with his investigation into the Aeternalis. Wheeling himself over to the stairs, Ben stared up at the long climb above him.

“Shit.”

Of course his dad hadn’t been bothered to add ramps or anything to the mansion after Ben had been injured.  _ Of fucking course. _

Ben was peeved. 

“Ben,” said a voice behind him and he turned to look at Vanya, shrunken in on herself and twisting her hands nervously in front of her.

“Hey, Van,” He said, wondering when the last time the two of them had been alone together was, “So dad he is huh?” He said, gesturing to the stairs with a grin, “Doesn’t even try and help his own son by making life easier?”

She laughed, although it’s broken and sad, “He never did like making life easy, did he?”

“Nope, he didn’t.”

Her feet loud against the creaking floorboards, Vanya moved around him to the point that she’s standing in front of him. 

“I missed you, Ben,” she said, barely leaning down to give him a hug, “I missed you, too,” He responded, curling his fingers into her jacket.

She pulled away with a small smile, shoving her hands into her jacket, “Do you need anything from up there?”

“Yea,” He said, “I really need all of Dad’s files on the Aeternalis.”

“Why?” She asked, her voice quieter than he remembered, “What are you up too?”

“Some stuff,” Ben replied as coyly as he can and Vanya rolled her eyes, “You know you can be honest with me.”

“I’m doing some investigations into the Aeternalis. I think that they’re very suspicious, I don’t really know why I feel so strongly about this, but..” 

“It’s just your gut feeling,” finished Vanya, her expression distant, “Yea, I get that.”

“Do you mind getting all of that stuff for me, Van? I know it’s a hassle but..”

“Of course not,” Vanya said making her way up the stairs, “You need all of them?”

“Everything,” Ben agreed, “Even if it doesn’t seem important.”

She gave him a thumbs-up and dashed up the remaining stairs, hitting something on her way. He could hear her cursing loudly as she picked up whatever antique knick-knack she had knocked over in her rush.

He hadn’t spoken to Vanya in years, much less been alone in a room with her since they had gone on their last mission together. And she was definitely different than he had last seen her, which wasn’t unusual at all. She’d left the house at thirteen, shy and silent, only to pop up again at eighteen, doing interviews that their father had hated, destroying his reputation with vengeance. And now here she was again, at thirty, shy but resilient, like her two personalities had combined together. 

She hadn’t mentioned his injury, something he was grateful for. Too many people would point it out or ask him questions that were too personal or too condescending. He hated people like that.

As he waited for Vanya to come back down the stairs, his mind drifted to Klaus. Even if he would never admit it out-loud, Ben was very very worried about his brother. Klaus had always been positive and bubbly, even in the most dire circumstances, but when he started seeing the more violent ghosts, he’d numbed it all down with drugs. It changed him in a way that scared Ben, who had moved away from Klaus to Vanya and Five.

Then Five was gone and Vanya ran away soon after the terrible mission, days after that, and Ben had had no choice but to head back to Klaus, too intimidated by the top three numbers to even try. And there he stayed, until his injury which forced him to leave. He’d never looked back.

So when his home had been destroyed, he’d been lost and Klaus had took him in. Ben had watched Klaus and Dave with a beaming amount of pride in his brother and affection for Dave for dragging him away from the dark pits that Klaus had been trapped in. For the five years, Ben was there, it seemed like everything was perfect. Then Dave died and Klaus fell apart, Ben’s heart with him. Now Klaus was back into his old habits combined with the revenge plot that Ben had got him started on the path too,(something he now regretted).

And now they were heading to the front lines, where Klaus would inevitably encounter Epsilon. Ben wasn’t looking forward to that.

The sound of footsteps on the floor above him indicated the return of Vanya, so Ben shook himself out of his stupor to meet her gaze as she carried a massive pile of papers and books down the stairs. 

“Here you go,” She said, setting them down in his lap. 

“Thanks Van.”

She exhaled through her nose harshly and walked over to the small duffel bag laying on the floor, picking it up. 

“Can I ask you something?” Ben said, maneuvering around the stack of papers in his lap. She turned towards him, surprised, “Sure.”

“Why did you agree to head out and be a member of the Academy again?” Ben said, studying her face, “As far as I could tell when you left you never wanted to come back here again, see this place again.”

Vanya sighed and adjusted her grip on her bag, “It’s bad out there and I know it is. But…”

“I want to see those people happy,” She finally said, lifting up the second bag she had with her. A smooth black violin case. “And if going with you guys will help all those people get free then I’m in.”

“I can’t even do anything,” Ben said with amusement, “But I’m gonna be your guy in the chair.”

She laughed, “You’re always in a chair now.”

“Basically,” He said swiveling around, heading towards the front entrance. Vanya fell into step beside him, swinging her violin case.

“We haven’t been alone for awhile,” Vanya murmured to him, her voice shaky, “Ever since...”

The last mission they went on together. Three days after Five disappeared. The day that they’d seen something no child should ever have to see in their entire lives. And they’d seen it together, this large all-encompassing weight between them, souring down every interaction and whispering in the back of their minds for every conversation.

They headed into the kitchen together, Ben spotting Diego helping Mom load things into the car and Luther pacing back and forth in the living room. Vanya began to rummage around the pantry, seemingly looking for something. She pulled out a jar of peanut butter and began to spread it on a piece of bread.

Ben bit his lip, “What are you doing?”

“Making a sandwich,” Vanya stated simply, “I used to make these every time I missed Five.”

“Of course,” murmured Ben, “He used to love those fluffernutter sandwiches.”

“Who used too?” said a loud voice as Klaus floated through the entrance, his feet off the ground.

“Five,” responded Vanya, barely looking up at Klaus.

“Oh!” Klaus floated around Vanya, snatching the bag of marshmallows, “He did like those weird ass sandwiches didn’t he?”

“Yea,” was the only thing Ben could think as a response, “Klaus, did you get all my stuff from the house?”

“Oh you wanted stuff?” asked Klaus curiously, “I didn’t know.”

Sighing deeply, Ben lifted the massive amount of papers off his lap and sat them down on the table, “Then can you at least carry all of these to the car.”

Klaus groaned, settling his feet onto the floor and whining about it, before angrily snapping, “FINE!” 

Vanya and Ben watch him stomp off to the car with the giant amount of papers in his hands.They turned towards each other, ready to continue their conversation only to be interrupted again, this time by Allison.

She strode into the room with confidence and a simple suitcase behind her, “Hey guys. Have you seen Luther anywhere? I wanted to ask him something.”

“I think he’s stressed right now,” Ben answered truthfully as Vanya nodded in agreement, “Why don’t you wait for him to calm down?”

“Yea,” Allison agreed, settling down on a chair, “I’ll do that.”

She sighed, pushing her head into her hands, “I’m nervous,” she said, missing the glance between Vanya and Ben. Allison wasn’t one to share her feelings at all. 

“Why are you nervous?” asked Vanya, reaching out for her sister’s hand and Allison took it, “I guess, it’s just been so long since I’ve fought anyone or really done anything violent or…”

She sighed, leaning her head back, “I guess I'm just nervous about whether this was a smart move for me.”

Ben noticed Vanya’s audible swallow before she responded, “You were the one that pushed Luther into doing this. You agreed with Diego.”

“And I still support it,” Allison said, “But I’m scared that I’m not ready.”

“Oh.”

Vanya and Ben exchanged a glance before Ben spoke, “You’ll be great Allison. And I’m sure that we’ll get time to practice before heading out. They don’t send unprepared people into the field.”

“We had more practice as children,” commented Vanya, “But we’re older now, we can make better decisions.”

“You're right,” admitted Allison, “But it doesn’t stop me from being afraid.”

They all fall silent, unable to face their situation. Then Klaus burst back into the room, shouting.

“Come on! We’re going!”

They all stand together, gather their things and head over to the small bus. Mom stood there, holding Diego’s hand as she clambered into the vehicle. Luther stepped into the driver’s seat. Ben rolled up the ramp with Vanya behind him. 

“What’s Mom doing here?” Klaus asked as he floated into the car, settling down next to Allison, “She shouldn’t be coming with us to a fucking war-zone.”

“She’s going with us to see the world,” Diego said with a snarl, “And if you’ve got a problem with that..”

“No, no,” Klaus said, waving his hands in surrender, “But I do think… well never mind.”

Luther stepped on the gas and the Academy went, launching themselves back into the fray of their childhoods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Klaus has the power of levitation. Thats the thing... I'm just hhh
> 
> God what do I even say here...
> 
> There's a photo of Allison in Icarus Theater with a heavy weapon and my guess is that it's from season two and I"M EXCITED


	6. my mind was lost in translation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You were my oppressor  
And I, I have been programmed to obey  
But now, you are my handler  
And I, I will execute your demands
> 
> -The Handler, Muse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this chapter in like thirty minutes because it’s all i need to get started on working on part one!!
> 
> (i’m also uploading this from my phone, but i’ll edit it when i get home)

Tick. Tick. Tick.

When he awoke the only sound was the ticking of a clock. 

Tick. Tick. Tick

He couldn’t hear anything else.

Tick. Tick. Tick

In the back of his mind, he wondered what he was doing here. But he didn't know where here was.

Tick. Tick. Tick

There are two more people near him. They are not important.

Tick. Tick. Tick

He doesn’t move.

Tick. Tick. Tick

“Hello you three.”

His head snapped upwards to meet the snake-like gaze of a familiar woman. Alpha. 

Tick. Tick. Tick

“Reginald Hargreeves is dead,” Alpha said, an emotion he can’t figure out in her tone. It sounds gleeful. 

He blinked.

Tick. Tick. Tick

“And he killed himself,” She continued, but he isn’t listening anymore. He doesn’t need to. This is not important. She’s gloating.

He drowned her out.

Tick. Tick. Tick

“I have a mission for you three,” She said, getting to her point. He snapped to attention.

“It doesn’t matter which one of you does it, only that it is done. The Academy is going to the front lines and we cannot let them. Hopefully the results of this mission are rewarding and they will retreat.”

Tick. Tick. Tick

“I want you to eliminate Grace Hargreeves.”

Tick. Tick. Tick

Kappa, Delta and Epsilon nod together, accepting the mission. Alpha grinned, “Get it done by the end of the week.”

She whipped around, her heels clacking on the hard cement and he watched her go. 

“Grace Hargreeves,” he whispered to the dark, feeling the name on his tongue, “Grace Hargreeves.”

Tick. Tick. Tick

Epsilon retreated into the dark, following the other two, savoring the taste of the name in his mouth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part One starts next chapter!


	7. after laughter comes tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I can't fake another smile  
I can't fake like I'm alright  
And I won't say I'm feeling fine  
After what I been through, I can’t lie
> 
> \- fake smile, Ariana Grande

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I've been gone. I went on a week-long sleep-away camp trip and got no sleep there.. 
> 
> I'm dying from sleeplessness, but i wanted to post this

She stared out the window, watching the distant fields sail by her. Eyes glazed over as the scenery passed by, Allison drank a small sip of her water bottle. Klaus was sitting next to her, his legs crossed. Every time she looked up, they would meet eyes and then look quickly away from each other. 

All in all, it was awkward.

She tried not to think about the fact that earlier this morning the only thing she had been thinking about was heading to her father’s funeral and now she was trapped into some sort of twisted family reunion, heading off to fight in a pointless war. 

Her eyes traveled around the car, taking in each of her sibling’s rumpled appearances. Diego had more scars than the last time she’d seen him at Dave’s funeral, probably because he had no sense of self preservation, Luther’s hair was cropped short and he’d built up muscle, most likely from flying spacecraft and war jets. Ben also looked quite similar to the last time she’d seen him, only his hair was a bit more rumpled and the ends were dyed with faded colors, probably from Klaus. His wheelchair was decorated in a similar fashion to his hair, with neon paint and tassels hanging from it. 

But out of all of them, Vanya and Klaus looked the most different. Vanya’s appearance had seemed different at Dave’s funeral before she’d left but now Allison was really getting a good luck at her, she looked  _ small.  _

Vanya had never been small before, even though she was physically the shortest of the bunch, her personality had made up for it. But now she looked simply tiny especially next to Luther. 

And with Klaus, there was something different in the way he carried himself. It was quite dark and foreboding and every time Allison’s eyes went his way, a chill would claw its way up her spine and sink its claws into her skin. She found herself avoiding his gaze.

Klaus being Klaus was the first one to speak up, “So this is quite a sudden development isn’t it? All of us in a car heading off to the front lines just like old times. Almost makes you wonder…”

He drifted off, leaving his words unsaid. Allison couldn’t even tell what he wanted to say, but her mind filled in the blanks for her.

_ If this was Dad’s plan all along. _

_ if someone  _ ** _did_ ** _ kill Dad just to lure them all to the front lines.  _

She chewed her lip,  _ I can’t fall for this. _

_ What about Claire? _

Claire. Her daughter. The one she couldn’t see anymore. 

The scandal had almost torn all apart her reputation, only by using a few well placed rumors had she been able to salvage it. But she couldn’t save herself from losing custody of Claire, Patrick taking her away from Allison. It was one of the biggest regrets of her life.

Lost in her thoughts, Allison barely noticed when the car stopped moving. A hand was placed on her shoulder and she jerked, ready to smack the hand down. Instead of meeting a vicious attacker she met the eyes of Ben, filled with concern.

“You ok?”

Barely registering her own nod, Allison gently picked Ben’s hand off her. 

“Yea,” She said, “I’m ok.”

Gingerly, she pulled herself out of the car, dragging her small suitcase along with her. Ben wheeled out behind her, his face solemn. Lifting her head to look at the building in front of her, Allison couldn’t help but notice how different it was from the city ones she was used to. It was cold and gray, with cracks stretching along the surface and green moss forming on the sides. Completely hidden in the lush green of the forest around them, the building was meant for disguise. 

The air was crisp when she breathed in, pine scented with a small hint of gunpowder. Much different from the city smells of people and gas. Inhaling deeply was easy with no dust clogging her nose.

She stood there in her own little world for a while until suddenly, Luther’s hand pressed into her shoulder. She spun around, wapping him in the face with her hair.

“Hey,” he said, his tone serious, “Once you get settled, I want to talk to you about something, ok? Meet me in my room.”

“Sure,” She agreed, “I’ll see you soon.”

He wandered off, heading into the gray building that she had noticed before. There’s people around it that she hadn’t noticed before, marching around in dark green uniforms with heavy-looking weapons in their hands. But when Luther walked through the throngs of people, they stop whatever they are doing and stare. Whispers of ‘Spaceboy’ and ‘The Academy’ fill the air. Diego sniffed haughtily at the shocked looks on the soldiers' faces and dragged Grace into the building, Klaus on his heels. Vanya meekly shuffled through the door after, leaving Ben and Allison outside. Sighing, she grabbed her suitcase and headed indoors, ignoring the whispers of ‘Allison’ and ‘Rumor’ on her heels.

Following Vanya down the hall, she ended up in a small hallway with ten doors lining the walls.

“This is where you’ll be staying,” said a voice ahead of her, “This entire hall is reserved for your stay here with us.”

“Thank you,” Luther’s voice replied, “We’ll probably end up using your gym or training facilities as well.”

“Of course, of course! You’re welcome too.”

“That’s very nice of you, sir,” Luther says politely. Allison rounded the corner to find him talking to a small general, who’s shaking Luther’s hand enthusiastically.

“Imagine! The Academy! In my base! You know, ten years ago if someone had told me that the Academy would be staying in my base, I would’ve called them crazy.”

“Ah,” says Luther with the expression of someone who has no idea what to say to that. His face is slowly turning red from the pressure of shaking this man’s hand constantly.

“Hi,” Allison felt the need to step in. The man and Luther both turn around. 

“Rumor!” the man spread his arms as though he’s greeting an old friend, “You look really good!” The man rushed over, wrapping his arms around her with the enthusiasm of Klaus.

“Uhhhh,” Allison patted his back as though she’s patting a small dog, “Thank you?”

“You're welcome!,” The man said, pulling away and shaking her shoulders, “I hope you have a lovely time here!” He briskly turned over his shoulder, preparing to head away, but not before giving her one last joyous wave.

“He seemed fun,” Allison told Luther as he stared at his hand that had been shaken by the man mournfully.

“He reminds me of Klaus.” 

“Definitely,” agreed Allison, wrapping her arms around herself, “What did you want to talk about?”

He raised an eyebrow, “Did you pick out a room yet?”

“No,” She said, pressing her neatly manicured hand against the closest door. The heavy metal door swung open, hitting the wall with a dull thud, “But now I did.”

He shrugged, accepting her move.

“Come on,” He made a ‘come-on’ gesture as he headed into the door across the hall from the one she had selected, “We should talk in private.” He eyed the approaching figures of their other siblings with apprehension, “Just us.”

“Ok?” She said, following him into his room. Turning around, she watched him close the door behind her, sliding the lock into place, “Luther?”

“It’s Dad,” He said, “I can’t get over it. His death, I mean. It’s too suspicious.” His blue eyes look up to her for validation, “Tell me I’m not crazy.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a level look, “It is weird,” she admitted, “But I don’t think that you’re right. You accused our siblings of  _ murdering  _ our father, the President. That’s a high-level crime that you threw at them, with no proof whatsoever.”

“Diego isn’t accounted for,” He said instead of acknowledging her point, “I checked. Everyone else is where they should be, except Diego. He wasn’t here. He wasn’t accounted for. And he had the most to gain from this.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” spat Allison, anger replacing any awkward feelings she had, “He had nothing to gain. No one did. He only put you in the will, Luther, If anyone had anything to gain from this. It would be you.”

“Me?” His hands fly towards his chest defensively, “Why would I kill Dad?”

“Why would Diego?” she challenged back, “Why would any of us?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Luther, defeated, “But it is weird, isn’t it?”

She sighed, “It is. I’ll admit that. But there’s nothing you can do about anyways. He’s dead. Just accept that and move on.” She reached for his shoulder, gently, “We don’t need an accuser right now, we need a brother.”

Meeting her gaze, he softened, “Yea. Yea. Ok. But..”

“Stop,” she said with a smile, “You need to stop thinking about this.”

“Sure,” There’s a pause where he seemed to contemplate saying something else, before eventually deciding against it.

“I think you need to let it go,” She said ignoring the yawning pit in her stomach, “We have much more important things to do.”

She left him, sitting on the cold metallic bed, lost in his thoughts. Instead she headed back towards her room, ready to unpack her suitcase for the unknown amount of time she’d be here.

Her room was small, cold and cramped. All the furniture that was there, a cold metal bed, a tiny dresser and a desk/chair combo tucked into the corner, was unadorned and frankly quite pathetic looking. She carefully unzipped her suitcase, gently picking up and going through the clothes one of her assistants had packed for her. With a sigh, she realized that most of the clothes laying on her bed were not practical, just pretty. She’d have to ask Vanya to help her get some more practical clothes.

Pulling on the least revealing clothes she could find, a pair of overalls and a shirt, she scored her bags for sneakers, instead only finding heels and sandals.

“Great,” she muttered aloud, “Just great.”

Welp, she’d have to go barefoot. 

Padding down the cold metal floor towards the gym was a nightmare. Her feet wanted to jump off the floor and she sailed quickly down the halls, each one blurring together. By the time she arrived at the gym, she practically lept onto a weight machine, just to get her poor feet off the floor.

“What the hell are you wearing?” said a familiar voice with an edge to it. She twisted her torso around to meet Diego’s fiery glare with her best smile, “Clothes.”

“We are going to be fighting constantly and you’re wearing that?” Diego’s tone rose an octave, his eyebrows with it.

Shrugging her left shoulder, she sighed, “I didn’t pack my bags. I just had someone else do it for me. I’m regretting it now.”

The puff of laughter that comes out of his nose is short but she caught it, “Serves you right,” He said teasingly, “You’ll have to get some better clothes.”

She can’t help but wonder if the brother that she’s joking with now also put poison in her father’s teacup. Curse Luther for making her think that way, “I was going to ask Vanya if I could have some of hers, but….”

Diego’s puff of laughter is more like a snort this time, “Her clothes are tiny, Allison. There’s no way you two could share clothes. Maybe Klaus will want your stuff.”

“God, don’t give him any ideas,” Allison groaned, remembering past raided closets and returned shoes with holes in the toes.

“Give who ideas?” Another voice joined them in the gym. Klaus sailed through the door, his feet inches off the floor. 

“You,” replied Diego with a scowl, “Allison packed a bunch of clothes that really aren’t fighting clothes. You’ll probably steal them.”

“I will!” Klaus said cheerfully, setting himself down on the floor. There’s a soft light in his eyes, bit it’s overpowered by the aura of  _ wrong  _ that drafted around him, “If you have no use for them, I’ll take them.”

“Sure,” she turned her head towards the archway Klaus just came out of, waiting for Vanya, Luther or Ben to come out of it thus saving her from Klaus’ shenanigans. They don’t. Traitors.

Blocking out the sounds of her brothers’ lively banter as they wait for the others, Allison knew that the peacefulness in the air and the comfort of being near them wouldn’t last forever.

But just for a minute, she could pretend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus begins Part One. I'll have you know I have Three parts planned but no idea of how long each one will be. 
> 
> Currently Part Two is the longest.


	8. i just wanted to protect you, but now ill never get to

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where did you go?  
I should know, but it's cold  
And I don't wanna be lonely  
Was hoping you'd come home  
I don't care if it's a lie  
-ilomilo, Billie Eilish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: kidnapping and description of a corpse. 
> 
> I think this song, ilomilo, was the first song I listened to while writing this chapter. And I cried. Really hard. i’ve always loved this song way more than normal.  
AnywAYS enjoy the chapter!

It took a lot longer than anticipated to unpack all of her supplies. Even though she was a light packer, the time spent pulling all of her shirts and pants out of her suitcase was unbearably long. So long in fact, that Vanya’s mind started to lazily drift off while sorting, eventually finding herself in a memory.

_ She had been thirteen, young and bright, sneaking into her brother’s room in the middle of the night. Excitedly, she had woken him up. _

_ “Five! Five!” she shook his slumbering body, “Five wake up!” _

_ His hand sleepily reached up, pulling her hands off his shoulder, “I’m up, Van. What did you wake me up for this time?” _

_ “We’re going on a mission in a couple of days and I’m so excited I can’t sleep!” She said giddily, “I don’t understand how you can.” _

_ “I’m tired,” He said bluntly, his eyes changing from a tired blue to an irritated green, “I need sleep.” _

_ “No you don’t,” She insisted, ripping the covers off his body with a flourish. He groaned as the rush of cold air hit his body, now fumbling around in the dark for the blankets. She laughed when he hit her face with his searching hands. _

_ “Look, I’ll go make you a sandwich and then we can talk about all the things we’re gonna do when we leave the house!”  _

_ His head popped up at the mention of the outside, “I’m going to get ice cream. Or a puppy. Or both.” _

_ “I’m going to get you those things,” she said seriously, well as serious as a tiny thirteen year old can sound, “I swear on it.” _

_ He gave her a sleepy grin, “Of course you will, Van. You always will.” _

_ That was the last thing he had said to her. _

_ When she returned from her sandwich trip downstairs, the first thing she noticed was the lack of light in the hallway where Five’s room was located. The sandwich plate clutched close in her hands, she had treaded down the hall, the overpowering sense of foreboding and dread only heightened by the dark hall. When she made it to Five’s door, she pushed it open, slowly. _

_ “Five?” _

_ She reached for the familiar switch that she knew by heart at this point. Her own heartbeat pounded in her ears and she could feel the shaking of her powers rattling the lights. With a sharp movement she flicked on the lights. _

_ There trapped on his bed was Five, surrounded by multiple black suited people with heavy weapons trained onto him. His eyes met Vanya’s for a brief moment, blinding white with fear. Then, one of the people shoved something that flashed white over his face, pulling him backwards towards the fire escape just outside his window. Vanya screamed, the lights around her shattering, the room falling into darkness. _

_ When Luther found her, minutes later, Five was gone.  _

_ Her father had been furious when he’d found out, cursing up a storm. She’d been curled up in Luther’s arms, listening to her father’s angry words about losing Five. Never once did she hear him express concern about Five, only fury at how losing one of the Academy would look to the public. _

_ She’d sobbed even harder. _

Blinking tears out of her eyes at the memory, Vanya packed the final pair of pants into her drawer, shutting it closed. She shook her hands back and forth, trying to calm down. It took a couple of minutes to officially call herself calm enough to face her siblings.

Hands quivering, she picked up one of the remaining jackets on her bed and pulled it over her head to hide her clammy body. Then, she peeked outside of her door to the left and right, looking for a person that would unexpectedly walk down the corridor that she was staying in. When no one came, she breathed a quick sigh of relief and then shuffled down the hall towards the gym.

Once she was there, she slunk into the room, barely noticed by any of her siblings except Ben, who gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

“Great!” Allison had apparently followed Ben’s gaze and spotted Vanya, “Now that we’re all here, we need to figure out what we’re doing.”

“Are you stupid?” Diego asked incredulously, “We need to train. I’m not sending you all out there without practice, I mean, Look at Klaus!”

Klaus made a vague gesture towards his absurdly lanky body, “I agree with Diego.”

“I also agree with Diego,” said Vanya meekly, ignoring the triumphant point from Diego at her words.

Raising her hands in surrender, Allison replied, “I never said that we shouldn’t practice before going out there, but we need to discuss some things first.”

“Like what?” said Ben, who was casually holding a weight in his hand, “We’ve already discussed everything, I think.”

“Mom,” clarified Allison, “Why is she here? What is she doing?”

Diego jutted out his chin, “She’s in the infirmary so she can help us. I promised her that she would be able to see the world and now that Dad’s dead, she can.”

It was only because Vanya was awkwardly standing behind her siblings that she caught a significant glance between Allison and Luther. Wonder what that was about?

“Dee has a point,” Klaus said, his voice silky and dreamy, “Mom’s a great caregiver and Dad never even let her leave.” He gently spun around in the air, his long pants dragging, “Makes you wonder why.”

This time when Diego jutted his finger at Klaus, it was more victorious. He gave Luther’s bored face a massive smirk.

“Whatever,” said Luther, rising to his full height, “She’s here now. We might as well live with it. But.” He paused deliberately, “If she gets hurt in some way.”

“She won’t,” Diego said confidently, his hand on one of the knives adorning his body, like he thought Luther would go hurt their mother to prove a point.

“That’s on you then,” Luther said, looking a Diego over the bridge of his nose.

“Fine.”

Allison clapped sharply, starling most of them out of their impassive states, “Now that that’s settled. We should get training.”

She spun around and headed off towards a weight machine with Luther trailing behind her, just like when they were kids. Diego let out a scoff and grabbed Klaus’ arm, pulling him down from the air where he was floating. He then dragged Klaus towards a treadmill, with a complaint of you need to actually learn how to walk.

She found herself next to Ben again.

“Hey,” He said, turning his wheelchair to look at her.

With an audible gulp, she smiled, “Hi.”

“You want to get started or do you just want to stare at the wall over there?” He asked with a grin, “It’s a very interesting wall, but.. I think we’ve got some more important things to worry about.”

“Right,” She said, snapping her gaze away from the very interesting wall she had been staring at, “Shall we?”

Ben tilted his head at her, rearranging his hands to move the stack of papers on his lap, “Do you have some glasses to practice with?”

No, she thought with a grimace, but she decided not to admit that to her brother. “I don’t need them.”

“You sure? You always needed to do that glass thing when we were kids to warm up,” His lips twitched like he knew she was lying.

“I can do it,” she insisted, lifting her arms and immediately falling. 

“WHOA!” Ben’s arms shot out to try to catch her, but he wildly miscalculated his own strength and ended up missing her. She ended up crashing into the floor a bit dazed. Vanya laid on the floor at Ben’s feet, staring at the wheels in front of her face. Other concerned feet wandered into her line of vision as she wearily blinked the blur out of her eyes.

“Is she ok?” asked Luther, more confused than worried, “She’s never had that problem before with her powers.”

“Well, she hasn’t used them in a long time, ever since Five..” trailed off Allison, “Maybe it’s a side-effect of not using them for so long.”

“Like withdrawal!” Klaus’ voice said brightly, happy to be able to participate in the conversation, “I know the feel, It sucks.”

His skinny hand ruffled her hair, eventually pulling away when Diego’s scruffy shoes came into her field of vision. The others eventually drifted away after them, going back to whatever training they had been up to.

Ben’s rough hand appeared in her line of sight, extended to give her a helping hand back to her feet, “You good?”

“Yea,” she breathed, standing up on shaky legs, “I’ll be good, I just..” She licked her lips, “I’m just out of practice.”

“Me too,” Ben said sympathetically, “But Justin knows that I’m too weak to use as a vessel anymore. My legs would break. Well, more than they already are.”

“Justin?”

He sighed a long-suffering sigh, “That’s what Klaus calls the Horror. I’m pretty sure they don’t have a gender but Klaus insisted that they looked like a Justin. So I agreed to call them Justin.”

“That’s so..” She tried to think of a word to describe that, “Klaus.”

“Yea it is,” said Ben fondly looking at where Klaus is loudly arguing with Diego, “But if I’m honest. I’m scared for him.”

She swallowed. It must have something to do with that darkness seeping around him. She hadn’t felt anything like that before from Klaus, who was normally so bouncy and energetic.

“What happened?” She murmured getting closer to her brother. She didn’t want Klaus over hearing. 

“I figured out who killed Dave,” Ben whispered his head hung, “And I told him.”

“Oh… Oh..  **Oh…” **

It all made sense now. 

“I thought,” Ben said in a rush, “I thought it could give him closure. Maybe get him to accept that Dave was really gone. He’d been in denial for weeks and I was only trying to help. But now..”

“But now,” she prompted, voice low.

“He’s obsessed.” Ben finished defeated, “That's the only reason he’s here right now. To kill Epsilon. And possibly anyone else who gets in his way.”

Vanya exhaled sharply through her teeth.A high sound. “Did you try and get him to stop?”

Ben nodded, “I told him that killing someone else won’t bring Dave back, but he has some crazy idea that Dave’s ghost is haunting the person who murdered him and that’s why Klaus can’t find him.” 

He looked up into her eyes, “He just wants to see Dave again. And I don’t blame him for it. But we don’t even know what any of the Aeternalis assassins look like, much less one specific one. There’s no way he’s going to be able to find just one.”

“He’s going to kill all of them,” Vanya realized in a single moment, “Until he finds Epsilon.”

“Exactly.” 

“Shit…”

“Yea,” Ben agreed, voice soft, “Shit.”

“That’s bad,” she said, not sure what else to say. Quickly she snuck a glance over to Klaus, who’s still fighting with Diego over how to lift weights. But now she sees him in a different light. A mourning one. 

She knew the feeling of mourning for someone taken so unfairly all too well. Of being stuck in place while someone you cared about was ripped away by the world. Five had even said it himself when they chatted about the war.

_ “There’s only a war happening because we were born.” He’d said to her one night, pacing around his room, “And they won’t stop until they get all of us in their grasp. It’s only a matter of time before they become bold enough to do something rash. And then we’ll be fucked.” _

And then we’ll be fucked.

She remembered his words, even years later. They’d echoed through her brain, three days later, when she and Ben had gone on the fateful mission that had destroyed any hopes she had of the Academy making it out alive together.

_ They’d been tasked with investigating a tunnel that their father had found underneath the mansion. Something that he had put off for a while, but had been moved up on his urgency list with the abduction of Five. _

_ “We can’t have my pupils disappearing anymore!” He’d told them that morning, as though Five had taken a quick trip over to the grocery store and not been abducted in front of Vanya’s eyes.  _

_ She and Ben had been given one tunnel as opposed to two like the others. Because they had taken Five’s kidnapping the hardest, their father had told them that they didn’t have to do as much, given that their performance would be lacking for a “couple of years due to attachment” _

_ She’d almost spat on him.  _

_ Ben had lead the way down into the dark, with his hand clasped in hers. Their footsteps along the pebble-shrewd floor were the only noises in the entire cavern. They hadn’t trusted themselves to speak, afraid of hearing voices echoing around the dark. They arrived at the bottom of the cavern, Ben switching on the light he’d been forced to carry down with him. The light cut through the thick dark that settled around the caverns’ corners and blinded both Ben and Vanya, forcing them to blink rapidly several times to get the sparks out of their eyes. _

_ “Come on, Van,” Ben had said softly, “Let’s get this over with so we can go home.” _

_ Her mouth thick with bile and spit, she’d simply allowed herself to be dragged along behind her brother. Her thoughts whirled around her head, stuffing her brain with so much fog that when Ben froze, she didn’t notice tripping over his feet. _

_ “Sor…” The apology died in her throat when she saw what he was staring at.  _

_ At first it looked like a shadowy lump in the corner, like a rock or possibly an animal that had been unfortunate enough to become trapped down there. Then the smell hit her nostrils and she choked, taking a step backwards away from the lump. _

_ “What the hell…” _

_ Then she’d spotted it. A small gleaming golden badge. Etched onto it were the familiar umbrella, mask, lighting bolt and skull symbols along with the old language that read “When evil rains.” _

_ “No..” She could barely feel Ben’s hands gripping at her shoulders, “No.. no.. no… it can’t be… “ _

_ In a shocked haze, she’d stumbled over to what was now identified as a body. Faintly, she could hear Ben screaming at her not to touch it, to wait for the others. But she didn't listen, turning the corpse over to reveal a pool of blood underneath the body and a familiar uniform under her fingers. _

_ The face was completely bashed in and covered in blood. It didn’t even look like him. It didn’t look like anyone really. But Vanya knew who it was.  _

_ The lamp clutched in Ben’s hand shattered as Vanya’s voice echoed through the chambers, her powers taking the sound in their hands and reverbing it to be a million times louder. The walls shook and crumbs from the ceiling came down, but Vanya couldn’t care less.  _

_ “And then we’ll be fucked.” _

In the end, she hadn’t been able to protect her own brother in her own home.

There wasn’t even a funeral for him. Her father insisted that there was no need. 

Vanya left her childhood home at age thirteen, twenty four hours after the discovery of her brother’s body.

She’d never used her powers again. 

Until now, that is. Her hands shaky, she began to focus on the slight sounds of Allison’s weights hitting the chair. As the sounds grew louder and louder in her ears, until it was the only thing she could hear. When the pressure of the sounds grew to be too much, she released her powers, causing a weight machine to fly through the air. It crashed past Luther’s machine and into the door. 

Her siblings stopped what they were doing to stare at her as she brushed sweaty bits of hair out of her face. Although there was sweat dripping down the back of her neck, she lifted her head to meet her siblings gazes with an exuberant grin.

“Sorry about that,” She said, the grin on her face not fading. Klaus laughed, his chuckle dark and it sent a chill down her spine, “We might have a chance after all!”

“Yea,” Ben echoed, looking at her like he’d never seen her before, “We might.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m sorry.. (not really)
> 
> Things are getting real...
> 
> Next Time: Luther attends a family dinner and the Academy gets their first mission


	9. you know i could be just like you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I could be cold  
I could be ruthless  
You know I could be just like you  
I could be weak  
I could be senseless  
You know I could be just like you
> 
> -Just Like You, Three Days Grace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is so self-indulgent, it literally caters to every single one of my favorite things in fics
> 
> If Im honest, Im mostly writing this fic for myself (and for the writing practice)

When Vanya’s power whizzed a weight machine past his face, Luther could feel his brains melt through his ears and onto the floor. Not literally of course, but the feeling of Vanya’s sound-altering powers had become unfamiliar to his mind after so long, that it really did feel like that when he heard them for the first time in seventeen years. With a startled blink, he pressed his hand to his ear, attempting to stop the ringing to no avail.

“Sorry about that,” Vanya said, a massive grin on her face and sweat dripping down her forehead. 

“We might have a chance after all!” sang Klaus, something in his voice made Luther’s skin crawl.

“Yea,” Ben murmured distantly, “We might.”

Luther shook his head rapidly, trying to get the ringing out of his ears. “Well, that was a thing.”

“Indeed,” mocked Diego, eyeing the weight machine that had crashed into the door like it was about to scurry at him, “We should continue training”

There’s a collective groan from the others which he scoffed at, “Come on guys, This is important!”

They are saved by the loud alarm of a bell above them, signaling.. something, Luther isn't familiar with. Since Diego is their resident expert on the procedures of ground troops, the Hargreeves turn as one to look at him.

His arms are crossed across his chest and he gave them all a fiery glare, steeled with resolve. There is a staring match between them all that ends with Diego’s face falling as he loses the match of wills, “That was the dinner bell.”

“YES!” Klaus shouted, pumping his fist in the air with a grin, “Dinner is the best meal of the day!”

He turned gracefully in the air and sailed out of the room. The others watched him go with matching expressions of amusement and irritation. Allison is the first to follow after, setting down the weights she was holding and maneuvering around Vanya’s mess near the door. Diego, not willing to be the last one left, follows after, leaving Luther, Ben and Vanya together.

Ben took in the destruction around the only entrance to the gym with a long suffering sigh and turned to the two remaining siblings, “You wouldn’t mind moving this shit for me, would you?”

Of course not, Luther thought, but he doesn’t voice that aloud, instead simply picking up Ben, wheelchair and all and lifting him over the entire mess altogether. Hey, whatever works?

Ben landed on the other side of the pile of rubble, looking more frazzled than he was before. His hair was spiky and raised, like a startled cat and he blinked owlishly at Luther, who offered him a shrug.

“Thanks?”

The sounds of chunks of rubble shifting echoed behind Luther and he turned to see Vanya scrambling over the pile she’d created at the door. 

“We should hurry before Klaus eats all of our food,” She told them, grabbing the handles on the ends of Ben’s wheelchair and shoving him down the hallway. Luther trailed behind them, almost reluctantly. 

It’s not that he wanted to avoid his family. He didn’t. After not hearing from any of them for years, they had all shown up at the mansion for Dave’s funeral, something that Luther would never admit he was secretly grateful for. If Five’s death had broken them apart, then it would make sense that another one, Dave’s, in this case, would bring them together again. But that had lasted all of two seconds after Klaus had screamed at Vanya, causing her to leave again. 

But now they were together again, this time for the long haul, because of yet another death in the family, this time Dad’s. However, just like Dave’s death, there was something keeping his family apart from each other and after his conversation with Allison, he had realized that it was him.

Luther would never claim their father was a good parent, He knew too much about Reginald Hargreeves to ever say he was. But he was still a figurehead, he still raised them, and it was still important that he had apparently been murdered. Anyone with that kind of power had to be no good. 

It was dangerous to ignore it. And It was dangerous to rule out his siblings as suspects simply because they were his siblings.

All had motive, and only one didn’t have an alibi. Diego. The one who had insisted for years that the Academy needed to reform, the only one who’d stayed in the fighting, the one who’d gotten exactly what he wanted when their father died. 

But that wasn’t right either, was it? Because the teacup was poisoned, something that Luther could admit, wasn’t Diego’s style. If anyone in the family were to poison Dad it would either be Five (who was dead) or Ben (who can’t walk and had an alibi).

It was an impossible mystery. 

Allison was right. 

They didn’t need an accuser right now, they needed a brother and a leader.

Luther squared his shoulders and entered the dining hall, right after Vanya and Ben.

The dining hall was… interesting. Unlike the dank, dark walls of the Academy mansion or even the gleaming white pristine walls of the air force base cafeteria, this one resembles more of a jail house. Everything was cement, even the benches and tables that most of the soldiers were seated at. There wasn’t a line for food or anything, but simply a small pile in the corner stacked with small boxes with an intimidating-looking guard standing next to it.

“Hmm.”

He moved over towards where his siblings have chosen a table, not even bothering to grab anything to eat. He’s not that hungry anyways.

Klaus had a pile of six of those boxes and was currently stacking multiple sandwiches into his mouth when Luther sat down. He gave Luther a cheery wave. 

“Why does Klaus have six of those things?” He asked Allison, who rolled her eyes, “They taste like shit, but for some reason Klaus likes them.”

“If you cover things in enough ketchup, anything will taste good,” Klaus said, pulling his fingers out of his mouth with a pop. He pulled a ketchup packet out of his pocket and waggled it in front of Vanya’s face. Ben scrunched up his nose in protest, “Ketchup isn’t good at all.”

Klaus gasped so loudly that half of the people around them turned around to stare at them, Vanya shrunk down in her chair. “MY OWN BROTHER! HATES CONDIMENTS??”

“Yes?”

Klaus gathered his boxes of sandwiches towards his chest, gaping in mock offense, “You don’t deserve these sandwiches.”

“That only taste like something when they are covered in ketchup?” Ben arched his eyebrow, “Those sandwiches don’t deserve me.”

“They do taste like utter shit,” Allison agreed with Ben. Diego rolled his eyes, “They don’t taste that bad. Here.” 

He took one of the ones Klaus was cradling like sad children and popped it into his mouth. Ben and Allison both protested his actions exaggeratedly loud.

“EW!”

“What the fuck, Diego, at least chew.”

“You sound like a moose.”

Filled with contentment with the familiar sounds of Hargreeves bickering, Luther almost leans back in his chair, stopping only when he realized that if he did he would break the chair in half.

“Hello,” said a deep voice to Luther’s left, startling him out of the haze he had been drifting through. There was a man in a quite formal looking uniform there, his lip was stuck out in a scowl and there were glasses awkwardly placed on his head, just like he’d slapped them onto his forehead without checking in the mirror in the morning.

“Beaman!” Diego said enthusiastically, “Nice to see you dude!”

“Hargreeves,” Beaman said, tapping his clipboard, his scowl deepening, “I see you’ve gotten the Academy together.”

Diego blinked like a cornered deer, “Well, it was a group decision and-”

Beaman waved him off, “I don’t really care, Hargreeves. I don’t need reasons. The President is dead, if you remember correctly. And we need to win something. Badly. So I am going to give you something to do.”

“Right now?” Diego asked, nervously glancing at the other’s shocked faces, “But we haven’t even been here a full day?”

“No, you have not,” agreed Beaman, “But the situation is dire, so we don’t have that much time to lose. You will wake up at 4:30 in the morning to get ready. The mission departs at 5. You will be briefed there.”

“That early?” whined Klaus, sticking his plastic spork into the table, “That’s torture.”

“The real torture is the hundred of people who are dying for this Alliance all because Reginald wouldn’t hand you over when you were children,’ Beaman says without missing a beat, “You should have been here years ago, Four. Not letting people die for you.”

With that he spun around and left the Academy gaping after him. 

Luther swallowed and stood up, gently, trying not to usurp the table. 

“I’m going to bed,” He announced, “We need to leave early in the morning to go on this mission.”

Fumbling down the hallway, Luther cursed every single part of his bones that had carried him away from that conversation.He was supposed to be the leader of the Academy and he couldn’t even handle a bit of critcism for fuck’s sake?

Though, a small part of him whispered, That man, Beaman, was a bit too harsh. But Luther didn't really care about that, he told himself, he  _ didn’t.  _

Fuck..

His heart pounded in his ears and he could feel every ache and pain in his body flare up all at once. He knew it, he knew it…

Diego was right. The people out there were dying because the Aeternalis wanted the “miracle babies.” Hell they’d already gotten Five. And the Academy had been sitting on their asses, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for someone to fix the world for them. None of them had been doing anything impactful except Diego, he supposed.

But was it really their responsibility too?

His head hurt now.

Dad had always said that the Academy was meant to save the world. He’d said that for as long as Luther could remember, because their births had caused the split in the first place. 

_ “The Aeternalis are only going as hard as they can because of you!” Reginald had yelled at them after a particularly hard day of training, “They want to get their hands on you. And they are willing to do anything to get that goal accomplished.” _

_ “Will you be the reason everyone dies?” _

They’d all said no. But Luther can’t help but wonder how many of them actually meant it, or simply said it to appease their father.

He turned over in the metal bed with no blankets that he’d been given to sleep in, shifting uncomfortably. He stared at the wall. The solid and clean, metal wall with no dents. He brushed his hand against it with a sigh.

Tomorrow, the Academy will become a team again. Officially. 

He’s not ready to be a leader. He doesn’t think he ever was. 

But if the Academy doesn’t have a leader, then who are they really?

Allison’s voice came back to her, her honey-sweet tone warm,  _ We don’t need an accuser, We need a brother. _

They don’t need a brother either. They need a leader. 

And Luther had spent the past day or two, falsely accusing his siblings of murder and then pathetically attempting to help Allison train so she wouldn’t die on the battlefield.

“Shit,” he breathed into the darkness, “I am a shitty leader.”

The darkness of his room offered no response, he didn’t expect it too. His alarm is set for 4:00am sharp. 

He fell asleep at 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: The Academy delivers medical supplies and Beaman is a dick.


	10. i've clawed my way out of here before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I kick and you like to punch  
I'm unhinged and you're undone  
I'm not getting out of here alive  
I brought a lemon to a knife fight
> 
> -Lemon to a Knife Fight, The Wombats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish i knew how to *gestures vaguely* pace things?
> 
> I'm so bad with pacing, it's the worst. Why am I so bad? WHO KNOWS NOT ME

4:30 is too early a time, even for him. Everything fucking hurts when you get up this early. Muscles, bones and everything in between. Especially with the cold metal beds that pressed into your back and demanded way too much from everything.

Diego fumbled around his room, barely managing to catch himself when he tripped over his knife briefcase lying askew on the floor. Cursing his past self that had decided to drop his stuff all over the floor, Diego hobbled over to the communal bathroom.

Thankfully there was no one else there. Diego grabbed the edges of the sink and met his own eyes in the mirror There were dark bruises under his eyes and he looked a lot more pale than normal. He ran his fingers through the water and splashed his face in an attempt to wake himself up.

It didn’t really work.

“Fuck.”

“That’s a naughty word, Dee!” Said an amused drawling voice from the door.

“Hi Klaus,” He said not even bothering to turn around, instead concentrating on a massive scar under his eye, “Why are you here?”

“To look my best in the morning, duh!” Klaus said, the sound of something jangling in a bag coming from where Diego estimated he was. With an inhale he took in his brother’s scent of death, cheap cologne and perfume and weed. He almost choked on it.

Klaus set an old, small bag next to Diego, who stopped examining himself to watch his brother smear black eyeshadow across his face. It was amazingly common for Diego to watch Klaus do this back when they lived together, so Diego didn’t think much of it. He turned back to his own reflection.

Klaus lowered his brush after a couple of minutes and spoke, breaking the easy silence, “Have you ever seen an Aeternalis assassin?”

Diego snorted, “Nope. No one has seen them. Those guys are always well-hidden. It’s amazing that we even know they exist at all.”

“Yea,” Klaus knew that better than anyone, considering one of the Academy’s goals had been to capture at least one of them for interrogation. They’d never achieved that goal.

Diego dropped his hand from his face, “Why do you want to know that?”

“Just wanted too,” Klaus said with a shrug, “They interest me.”

“Well, they shouldn’t.” Diego said, turning away from Klaus’ face, “They’re murderers. One of them attacked my friend just days before Dad died.”

“Really?”

“Yep,” sighed Diego, “ My ex-girlfriend Patch. She was shot by one of them. I was in the hospital with her for almost a week. Took an unexcused absence. Beaman wasn’t happy with me at all.”

He pursed his lips, “That’s probably why he was so awful to us last night.”

“Oh yea, Luther really freaked out, didn’t he?,” Klaus said with a sigh, “He’s always been bad with talking.”

“Tell me about it,” Diego rubbed his face with annoyance, “He’s so shitty with words. Remember the interview after the camp raid? He had to get Allison to talk for him.”

“Yea,” Klaus chuckled, but it’s not as boisterous as Diego remembered, “Allison’s the only person good at talking. Maybe Ben too.”

Diego hummed in agreement, finally letting go of the sink.

“Five was too.” He threw over his shoulder as he began to walk out the door, “But words aren’t really my thing.”

He left without a glance backwards, heading for the meeting room where he would normally get briefed. When suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder He whirled around, gripping a knife in his hand, only to be faced with a man. He threw his arms up in surrender almost immediately.

“Don’t throw!”

Diego lowered his arm to get a good look at the man’s face, “Who are-”

“Will, sir- Hargreeves- sir…” Will obviously had no idea what to call Diego. 

“Just Diego.”

“Oh,” Will’s entire body, tense from a literal knife being pulled on him, relaxed, “Diego then.. Um I wanted to ask you about..” There’s a mute pause, “The person you brought with you?”

“Yes? What about her?” Diego scowled, “Is she ok?”

“Yes, she’s- she’s fine,” Will licked his lips, “I just wanted to ask you.. How does she know everything that she does?”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, she’s.. So well trained. Even with no medical degree or education or..”

“Mo- Grace was the doctor for the Academy, “ Diego said cooly, “She doesn’t need training when that’s all she ever did.”

“The Academy? Like...the Academy, Academy?”

“No the other Academy,” replied Diego, voice dripping with sarcasm, “Yes the Academy, Academy.”

“Oh- so you’re the- You’re the Kraken!”

“Yes,” Diego crossed his arms and leveled Will with an angry glare, “I am.”

“Oh. Oh wow.” Will ran his hands through his hair, “So you.. You can like, throw knives?”

Not able to bear the awkwardness of this entire interaction any longer, Diego sighed and brushed Will aside, “Look, we’ll talk later. I just have to.. Go.”

Walking away as quickly as his legs would take him, Diego barely noticed the greetings of the other soldiers around the compound. With a grunt, he pulled open the door, immediately into Allison, who dropped her coffee down her shirt.

“Damnit Diego! This is one of the only shirts that I have that is somewhat decent!” Her tone is angry but, the childish way she stamped her foot on the floor is anything but.

“Sorry?” His voice raised in a question, “I’ll try to look where I’m going next time.”

“It’s fine,” She said, dropping her hands in defeat, wiping the coffee off her body, “I’ll just take one of your shirts in petty revenge.”

“Fine,” He snapped, “Just not the black ones.”

“Deal.”

They stare at each other, neither particularly interested to talking more. Diego took the time to gaze at his sister. She’d dyed her bleach blonde hair, the ends were now tinged with purple. There were small cracks in her face from the lines where her skin would harden. Although they looked faint, he could tell that they were heavily smeared with makeup. In fact, most of her face was covered in makeup which was pretty unusual for her since she preferred to be natural.

“You ok?” he asked, gesturing to.. Her, “You look like shit.”

Honestly he should’ve known better to tell her that, but her expression became one of outrage. 

“What?”

“Sorry, sorry,” He threw his hands up, making sure she could see he was apologetic, “It’s just- you look really tired and I was wondering if you were going to-”

“I was going to what?”

“Be on top of your game today,” He finished lamely, ignoring her shocked gasp of outrage, “What? I’m trying to make sure another one of my siblings doesn’t get killed! If you aren’t feeling 100% then you shouldn’t be fighting.”

“I’m fine,” She said through gritted teeth, “Don’t ask me again.”

“Got it.” He gave her a small smile that she didn’t return, “You should go get changed and I’ll see you later?”

Her face completely dry, Allison gave him a slow nod, “Which room is yours?”

“208,” He said over his shoulder, “Don’t take any of my good clothes.”

“No promises.”

She’s totally going to take all of his good stuff isn’t she? Great. Just what he needs. With a sigh he headed for the door of the briefing room.

The first person he saw is Ben with a cup of coffee, studying a massive pile of graphs and charts. He occasionally took a sip of his coffee and muttered curse words under his breath. Next to him was Vanya, tiredly glancing at his papers and saying quick words of encouragement and/or advice.

Luther was hunched in the other corner of the desk, tapping his hands on the table. He kept glancing at Beaman in the corner of the room, nervously eyeing him as if he expected Beaman to scream at him again. Diego plopped down next to him, waiting for Allison and Klaus.

They came in together, mildly chatting about something. Allison was wrapped in his favorite sweater, the audacity. And Klaus was wearing a black boa and leather pants, that shimmied when he moved.

“What’s up, assholes!” He said, throwing his arm around Diego’s shoulder, “We ready to rumble!”

“It’s not as simple as that,” said Beaman cooly, not even glancing up, “ We need to extra precocious about this stuff, we can’t have anyone dying.”

“That’s not in the agenda,” Diego muttered his arms unfolding onto the table. Beaman shot him a look, “We can’t have any of you dying. So we need to take priority-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Luther shook his hands in the air, “Last night, you blamed us for all the people who were dying and now you’re telling us that our lives take priority over theirs?”

Klaus popped his lips together in anger, Allison’s brows raised, and even Ben look up from his papers to give Beaman a shocked look.

“Yes,” Beaman said without a flinch, “Granted, I don’t care what happens to you, but my higher ups do. They need you alive, so it’s my job to make sure it stays that way. Or else I’ll be fired. Or executed.”

“Executed?”

“Depends on which one dies,” Beaman said aloofly, “Now shall we get started!”

The silence is palpable, so thick you could cut it with a knife. Ben coughed.

“There’s a station in the corner of the woods. They've got some badly injured people over there. What we need you to do is run some supplies over there. No big deal. Just a quick in and out.”

They are all silent.

“Good, I’m glad you-”

“Hold up,” Diego said raising his hands, “We got the  _ Academy  _ back together. And you want us to run supplies?”

“Yes, that is what I asked?” Beaman said, his tone like he was talking to a child, “It will save lives. Won’t it?”

“It will,” Vanya said her tone cool. It was a tone they had all heard before, right before she was going to explode, “But if someone else runs the supplies and we go out on the front lines, wouldn’t we save more lives that way?”

“You aren’t ready,” Beaman replied, smile condescending, “So we won’t give you anything you can’t handle.”

Glancing around the room, you could tell no one in the Academy was happy to admit that Beaman was right. They had only been back together for two days at this point. They weren't ready.

“Alright,” relented Luther, “Alright. We’ll do it.”

“Great,” Beaman shut his clipboard, “Get your costumes on.”

“Our what?”

* * *

“Well,” Allison said, staring down at herself in the mirror, “Anything is better than Diego’s cologne-filled shirts.”

“At least it’s practical,” Agreed Vanya, pulling her dark hair into a bun, “If they’d forced us to wear the same outfits we had as kids, I would’ve killed someone.”

“Those were crazy awful,” Allison agreed, “Spandex is really impractical.”

“It was Dad’s idea probably,” Vanya sighed, “He was never a fashion icon himself.”

“Like me?” Klaus sashayed into the small room where the others were waiting, “I think I look handsome.”

“Why don’t you have a shirt on?” asked Luther, eyeing Klaus with skepticism. 

“I want to be free,” Klaus told them, slapping his own chest for emphasis, “Shirts are too restrictive.”

“You wear crop tops and tank tops all the time,” Ben said dryly, “You like shirts.”

“Maybe sometimes,” Klaus admitted with a shrug, “But until I can wear my striped shirt with my army clothes, I’m going shirtless.”

“Who told you that you couldn’t,” Luther asked his brow furrowed like he couldn’t comprehend why a neon striped shirt would be a bad move, “I think it looks fine.”

“Luther is my favorite brother now,” Klaus said pointedly, “Fuck you all.”

“No thanks,” Vanya said without looking up, “You're not my type. None of you are.”

“Harsh, Vanya,” Klaus said, lifting his cigarette. Diego pulled a face of disgust at the prospect of being anyone’s type, especially Vanya’s.

Ben sighed, “Let’s just get this over with.”

* * *

The forest was an absolute mess of trees and honestly, that’s a given considering it’s a forest. But Diego fucking  **hated ** trees. He’s sick and tired of looking at them and sick and tired of being here and sick and tired. And tired.

He’s tired.

“I can’t throw my knives in these trees,” He complained for the millionth time. 

“Shut up, Diego,” Allison moaned, spraying a load of bug spray, “At least you don’t have to carry medical supplies in the sweltering heat, dick.”

He easily flipped her off, the gesture as natural as anything. Vanya bit back a small laugh. Luther just sighed, adjusting his grip on the supplies he was carrying.

“Does anyone find it super annoying that we’re tramping through the forest delivering supplies while people are fighting for their lives right now?” Diego said with a sigh, “I am.”

“Diego,” sighed Vanya, “You need to let it go.”

“Never,” he spat, “I never let things go.”

“Tell me about it,” Klaus said, easily floating through the air, “You still hold me accountable from the purple hair dye thing when it was all Ben’s idea.”

“IT WAS BEN’S IDEA?” shouted Diego with fury, “WHAT THE FUCK?”

“Dude, do you even know Ben at all,” Klaus snapped with an eye roll, “He’s an asshole.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Vanya said from behind Allison.

Allison raised her brows at her sister, “Ben’s really that mean? I always thought of him as quiet, but not a dick.”

“He’s both,” Klaus said lazily, “He’s a quiet dick.”

“Huh. Never would have guessed.”

“There!” Vanya shouted, pointing up ahead of them at a small building practically hidden in the brush. Diego squinted up ahead, “How did you see that?”

“I could hear it,” She said flatly, with an over-exaggerated eye roll, “Hmm.”

“Nice!” Klaus muttered, “Now I’ll actually have something to do.”

“We asked you if you wanted to carry something and you said- and I’m quoting you here- No fuck that,” Allison said with a sigh.

“Exactly!”

Luther raised his eyes to the heavens above as if waiting for a lightning bolt to shoot him down where he stood. 

“Let’s just drop these supplies off real quick, in and out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: The Academy blows up stuff and also argues with each other. Family bonding!


	11. my old aches become new again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know I expect too much  
And not enough all at once  
You know I only wanted fun  
And you got me all fucked up
> 
> -Where Did The Party Go?, Fall Out Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I've written for this fic, and it's also the most plot-heavy one too!
> 
> GOD THIS FIC IS GONNA BE SO LONG RIGHT NOW
> 
> Currently, there's about thirty chapters planned, but depending on my terrible writing there might be even more.
> 
> (We're about 1/4 of the way through Part 1, there's three parts...)

"Honestly,” Klaus said to anyone who would hear it, “This isn’t the worst day I’ve ever had.”

A massive explosion went off to his left, sending shockwaves throughout the jungle. Klaus threw his arms up in the air, scurrying around like a scared crab. Rolling onto the grassy floor to dodge the explosions, Klaus lay on the floor for a couple of seconds, before stumbling up to his feet with a grunt.

“Best day ever,” He shouted to the winds, “Thanks for ruining my trek through the woods with my asshole siblings!”

“I’m right here,” complained Vanya from next to him, scrunched up against his side.

Klaus gave her a little wave with his “Goodbye” hand. Vanya rolled her eyes with a sigh, before lifting her hand. With a super sonic shriek, she destroyed a piece of rubble flying through the air. 

“Fuck damn,” muttered Klaus, watching her gap at her own powers, “Nice, Van!”

“Thanks?” she said, eyes still trained on her hands, “I haven’t done anything like that in years.”

“Are you sure about that, cause you’re a natural!”

“Sure,” She said, rising to her feet. She scanned the area, looking for the others or really anyone.

“Do you know what happened, Klaus?” 

“Not particularly,” he replied with an apologetic shrug. She pursued her lips at him, trying to hide her annoyance. It didn’t really matter to him if she was annoyed with him, since he was planning to run away after Epsilon’s death anyways.

Honestly, Klaus didn’t often think things through. He wasn’t blind to how often he’d throw himself into situations and other things where he wasn’t really wanted or needed. But he had every single dying moment planned for the person who’d tore Dave away from Klaus’ arms. 

He’d gotten some of the ideas from the ghosts that surrounded him constantly after all. And they all died pretty brutally, if he said so himself. 

Another explosion took him out of his revenge-plotting.

“Where are these coming from?” He shouted at Vanya, turning expectantly to see her reaction. But she wasn’t there. Curse invisibility powers. Whenever they were kids, Vanya would use them to play pranks on all of them, something he still detested.

“HEY!” shouted a voice over the loud pounding of the explosions. He spun around to see a bloody, mangled ghost staring at him.

“You’re the Seance right?” The ghost asked. Klaus squinted at it, trying to figure out if this ghost had blonde or brown hair. That’s always an important thing to know.

“Yea, I am.”

“Great!” The ghost looked weirdly pleased, despite the fact that given the major burns all over its body, it had probably died minutes ago, “There’s three people causing those explosions. They’re in the courtyard.” The ghost pointed towards a massive archway, “In there!”

“Thanks, but like hell I’m going in there,” Klaus told it, watching what was left of its face fall. Literally. A piece of it’s jaw clattered onto the floor.

“What? But you- You’re an Academy member! Aren’t you going to stop them?” 

“Eh.”

“Wha-wha,” The ghost sputtered at him, before angrily stomping their feet. Klaus watched in amusement as it went through the floor, “You’re a hero! You’re supposed to want to save lives! You’re supposed to not be a lazy piece of  _ shit!”  _

“Now you sound like my dad,” Klaus told the ghost gaping at him, “But if I’m being honest with you pal.”

“It’s Dylan.”

“That’s a stupid name,” Klaus informed Dylan’s offended face, “But as I was saying. I’m really only here for one reason. To kill one guy. And then, I’ll be a goody-two shoes and kiss my brother’s ass all the way, but until this one person is dead, I’m gonna save my energy. Thanks for the info though.” He pulled out a cigarette and lit it on a small clump of grass that was on fire near his leg.

“I’ll be sure to tell my siblings if I had the energy to find them.”

“You’re useless,” Dylan said with disbelief, “You’re useless.”

“I know,” Klaus said with an easy smile, “Believe me I-”

It was then that he noticed three people coming out of the blaze. They were in height order, the tallest in front with what looked like a gun in their arms but Klaus couldn’t be sure. They were clothed in all black, with heavy combat equipment strapped to them, the kinda stuff he’d only seen on Diego. They wore masks that covered their whole faces and thick goggles that made them look much dumber than was probably intended.

“That’s them!” Dylan shouted into Klaus’ ear, making him jump, “That’s those crazy fuckers!”

“Yea, I kinda assumed that,” Klaus said softly, carefully staring at them from behind the pile of boxes he was hiding behind. His training ran through his head, they were a good 300 feet away, so he had to be careful about sounds.

“What are you waiting for?” Dylan breathed on the back of Klaus’ neck, making him feel cold and tingly all over. Klaus resisted the urge to slap Dylan out of the sky. “Go get them, Seance!”

“You know,” Klaus whispered, eyes darting between the trio and another clump of boxes, “I can’t fight three heavily armed psychos at once, dipshit. I’m not Diego or Five or Allison, or literally anyone else but myself.”

Dylan’s arms droop down through his back and Klaus almost screamed in shock, whipping around to fix Dylan with a glare, “Stop doing that!”

The three psychos paused in whatever they were doing to glance around. Klaus muttered several words he would never repeat as one of them, the average sized one, came over to check out where Klaus was hiding.

He managed to pull himself over just as Middley, that’s what he named them, made it to where Klaus had been just seconds earlier. Middley scanned the area with their weapon before looking back at Littley and Tally with a shake of their head. Littley made a small movement, a signal to come back apparently since Middley started making their way back.

Dylan watched from besides Klaus with wide eyes, “Seance.” He said his tone warning.

“I’m not going to fight them,” Klaus told him bluntly but Dylan shook his head, “No that’s not it.”

“What is it then?”

“They’re Aeternalis,” Dylan said, fury in his voice. Klaus turned to blink up at him, “How do you-”

“They all wear black,” Dylan muttered, “I'm a soldier, Seance, Do you think I’ve never seen an Aeternalis soldier before?”

“I never said-”

“But there’s something unusual about them,” Dylan said, leaning a bit closer. So close in fact that Klaus could smell his burnt flesh. Wonderful.

“What do you mean?” Klaus said, shifting so that he was more securely hidden in the brush. Dylan fixed him with a dry look, “Why would soldiers attack a medical building?”

“Because they’re assholes?” said Klaus hopefully, his face falling when Dylan shook his head, “That’s a low move and even so, why are there only three of them?”

“I’ve got no clue, dude. I’ve never been good at guessing games,” laughed Klaus, immediately getting shushed by Dylan. 

“Do you understand what this means?”

“I don’t care.”

“It means that they’re assassins.”

Oh..

**Oh..**

The whole world goes red, the sounds of the explosions fading to a dull throb that filled every part of Klaus’s body. If they’re assassins, if one of them was Epsilon, If one of them.

Klaus could be seeing Dave’s killer for the first time.

“Seance? Seance?”

He blinked out of his little red world, glancing at Dylan, who despite missing half of his face, is shooting him a concerned look.

“Are you good?”

He nodded mutely, not trusting himself to speak or move. After spending a couple seconds squaring himself up, he turned to look at the three figures with a new perspective. Instead of taking in their sizes, he looked for the ‘ε’ on their uniform. But he was honestly too far away to be able to see anything too clearly.

He focused on the biggest one, Tally, because honestly in his mind, if Epsilon was anything, they would be a massive brute that only spoke in angry roars and gunned down anyone good enough to stand in their way. Like Dave.

His heart jumped out of his chest when Tally moved, turning so that the front of their uniform was displayed. And he was bitterly disappointed, It read ‘ϰ’. 

“Fuck,” he changed his focus to the other two, but they were too far away to see anything clearly, “Fuck.”

“What?” Dylan said confused, “What’s the matter?”

“I want to know which ones they are,” Klaus said with a grunt, “But I can’t see.”

“Ok,” Dylan said softly, “I’ll help you, in a second.” he’s cut off as one of them jumped up onto a small cliff that rose at the other side of the clearing, Tally. Kappa. 

“Shit they’re getting away,” Dylan said as Klaus rose to his feet, watching Middley disappear over the cliffside. He ran as fast as he could towards Littley, the last one left, but obviously he wasn’t careful enough since Littley spotted him.

“OH SHIT!” Dylan shouted as Klaus skidded to a stop, Littley’s gun aimed straight at his chest. 

Littley and Klaus stare each other down with the battle of wills, Klaus’ eyes daring them to fire and Littley’s are impassive and hidden. It’s terrifying, Klaus can understand why masks are needed now. He has no idea what Littley could be thinking about, instead he braced himself for the pain of a gunshot straight to the chest.

Littley lowered their weapon slowly. And the two of them stare, one in shock, the other in contemplation. Littley seemed to come to a decision, leaping up towards the cliffside and disappearing over the edge, but not before Klaus caught the symbol on their uniform.

Ε

Epsilon.

* * *

The fire is blazing still when Klaus arrived back at the wreckage, Dylan in tow. Dylan won’t stop asking questions about Littley- Epsilon.

“Why did that one lower their weapon? Why is that one so little? What do you think they were thinking? Why did they burn down this facility? Why didn’t you attack them?”

Honestly, Klaus wasn’t sure why he hadn’t. He supposed it was utter shock at seeing his husband’s killer in the flesh or the fact Epsilon had been aiming a  _ gun at him.  _ But, Dave’s killer had been  _ right there. In the flesh.  _ And Klaus had done nothing.

Just like always. 

He’s furious. He can tell. His hands are shaking with the force of his own anger. Dylan’s ramblings only make his blood pressure rise until he expelled it in one shout.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP DYLAN!!’

It’s all gone after that, Dylan has fallen silent. Several soldiers that had survived the bombing are staring hollow-eyed at his outburst, but Klaus couldn’t give a single fuck right now.

“Stupid, stupid, fucking idiot,” he told himself, storming into the remains of the building in an attempt to find one of his siblings. It’s not long till he spotted one, Allison, her hardened skin activated, creating a rocky looking texture to her whole body. Her blonde and purple hair is now slightly singed and there’s ash coating her body. She looked exhausted but her eyes lit up when she saw him, “Klaus!”

“Hey sis,” is all he can manage to greet her with. She dropped the chunk of rubble she was carrying and pulled him into a hug, which didn’t feel great if he was honest, given her current rocky texture, but he could care less.

“Are you ok?” She asked, running her thumb down his cheek, “You’re crying.”

“I didn’t notice,” He told her honestly and she sighed, “Oh Klaus.”

“I know who did this,” He told her carefully, not sure how he’s going to dance around this topic without another surge of rage, “I saw them leaving.”

“Good,” she said her voice flooding with the typical-Allison power, “That way we can have someone to blame.”

“Someones,” he corrected, “It was a gaggle of assassins.”

She blinked at him, her hands on his shoulders, “Aeternalis ones?”

Stiffly, he nodded in confirmation, ignoring her desperate gasp as she pulled him into another hug. Weird, he thought, tangling his fingers through her hair, this new emotion is weird. He’s torn between fury and fondness.

“I’m feeling very shitty,” He told Allison, his heart squeezing as she stifled a laugh, “Me too, Klaus.”

“Hey assholes!” shouted a gravelly voice, both of them spinning around to see Diego. There’s a massive bloodstain on the front of his shirt that must’ve already healed due to his healing powers, since he has no problem moving. He stopped in front of them, panting.

“You aren’t dead,” He said after giving them a once-over. Klaus snorted, “Brilliant observation, Dee.”

“Thanks,” Diego said dryly back, “Did anyone see how this started?”

“It was three Aeternalis assassins,” Klaus said, letting go of Allison, “I saw them leaving. They headed that way,” He pointed in the direction that he’d seen Epsilon leaving, “They didn’t say anything so..”

“Good work Klaus,” Diego clapped him on the shoulder, before taking off in the direction Klaus pointed him in. Allison watched him go before turning back to Klaus.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” She said, brushing some hair out of his face. 

“Sure,” He agreed, relaxing in her grip, “I need a bath.”

“Me too,” she snickered quietly, “A soapy bubbly one.”

“God that sounds like paradise,” He sighed, allowing himself to be led down the hallway by his sister, towards the others. He can almost forget about Epsilon for a bit, almost.

When they end up in the courtyard where the trio of assassins had headed from, Luther is standing there, waiting for them. He looked barely ruffled by the explosions, not even burnt, but that’s a given considering his secondary power of being able to withstand extreme conditions. There’s a group of soldiers with him with the same power, all picking through the ashes of the buildings.

Luther is towering over all of them, powerful and leader-like, but when he spotted the two of them coming over, he softened like the big idiot Klaus knew him as.

“You guys are ok!” Relief flooded his words, “That’s great!”

“We saw Diego a moment ago,” Allison answered swiftly, “No idea where Vanya is.”

Luther’s head swivel back and forth like he expected Vanya to simply rise up from the floor, “Did any of you see her?”

“I did,” Klaus said, raising his hand as though he was an eager child, “She and I were together after the first explosion went off.”

“Hmm,” cocking his head, Luther gazed very hard at a certain spot on the grass, “She’s probably ok, right?”

“Sure, man,” Klaus said flippantly, waving his hand. He hoped it would also ward away Dylan, who had returned to hovering over his shoulder, “She’s Vanya, she’s probably ok.”

Allison bit her lip next to him, “I’m going to go find her, just to make sure.”

Quickly, she turned and headed into the burned hospital, leaving Luther and Klaus together.

“Klaus?” asked Luther, catching Klaus’ admittedly short attention, “Have you spoken to any ghosts about the-” Luther’s eyes pause on the scorch marks on the grass and the shrapnel coating the floor, “Explosions?”

“Yep,” Klaus confirmed, gazing at Dylan, “Only one, but he’s kinda a dick.”

“Doesn’t matter if he is,” Luther bounced off him easily, “Did he see anything?”

“Actually I saw some things,” clarified Klaus, sitting down on a boulder in the corner, “It was the Aeternalis.”

“Yea no duh, Seance,” said one of the soldiers from where he’s sifting through debris, “This is a fucking war-zone.”

The soldier fell silent as both Luther and Klaus shoot him a look of death. Klaus kept his eyes on the soldier as he continued, “As I was going to say, It was a group of Aeternalis assassins.” He ignored the shocked gasp from the people that were beginning to trickle into the field, “They did this.”

“Seems like something they would do,” Luther admitted thoughtfully, “Do you know which ones?”

“Epsilon,” He blurted out immediately, “And.. Kappa? I don’t know the other one.”

One of the soldiers, obviously wary from the earlier death glare, awkwardly cut in, “If Kappa’s there, then the other one was Delta. Those two are a duo.”

“And how do you know that?” snapped another soldier, “Do you know them personally?”

The first soldier bristled angrily, “No. If you actually read the reports then you would know that, dick.”

There’s a short-lived round of laughter that died quickly, after all, a hospital was just bombed. Klaus squirmed uncomfortably as Luther turned back to the troops, barking out orders to figure out the bombs. He curled in on his own stomach and settled down on the rock, waiting for the others to return.

Diego came back first, seating himself next to Klaus on the rock. They don’t exchange any words, just a cigarette, something that they used to do when they were mere children. Allison came back after about thirty minutes of cigarette exchanging, with Vanya in tow. They both looked shaky and weak, but otherwise unharmed. Klaus let out a breath he’d never noticed he was holding.

By the time Luther was satisfied with the investigation, it’s almost nighttime and Klaus is about ready to pass out.

And the second, he’s in the makeshift tent with Diego and Luther’s annoyingly loud snores, he does.

But not before daydreaming about smashing Epsilon’s head in for almost an hour. 

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't tell, Kappa and Delta are Hazel and Cha-Cha. Do what you want with that info
> 
> Next Time: Epsilon has a crisis.


	12. i'm never what I like

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By the time the night wears off, the dust is down  
And shadows burn  
I will rise and stand my ground  
Waiting for the night's return
> 
> -Semi-Automatic, Twenty One Pilots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most people have already guessed who Epsilon is and I'm glad! it means I'm doing my job of writing this fic catering to my very specific favorite tropes.
> 
> I'm not going to outright say it until the actual reveal tho, so if Epsilon is an annoying name to you then....
> 
> Sorry?
> 
> These chapters are being pumped out rn and i don't know when this streak will end but I'm gonna ride it until I crash and burn

His mind was normally pretty hazy. It was kinda a fact that Epsilon had accepted long ago. Places he’d been, people he saw, things he’d done all melted together into a heated mess of murkiness. A long time ago, he couldn’t really remember when, he wasn’t such a confused mess of a person, though he was never sure exactly how long it had been. Years? Months? Honestly by the way he constantly felt, it could have been days for all he knew.

One thing he did know, one certain fact that he was sure of, was that he loved missions. Missions allowed him to be outside. Missions where he was away from the Aeternalis headquarters was a breath of fresh air to him. He never understood why, but when he was inside that base, his head and thought process was more simplistic than normal. 

It was frustrating for him to not know why things were the way they were. He hated feeling ignorant. 

Which was why he was puzzled over the last mission, he supposed.

Normally when Epsilon went on missions with Kappa and Delta, he let them take the lead. After all he was the smallest, he hadn't grown in years (or months, or days), so it would make sense for them to be the leaders of missions. He was just the extra baggage.

There were some things he could do that they could not, like squeeze into smaller spaces and disappear and reappear wherever he wanted and do math very well, (he’d never figured out how he knew all those formulas.) But mostly, he was a liability.

Which he was cool with, as long as he got away from the suffocation of the headquarters, but the last one he’d gone on, he’d actually killed someone. He’d gotten a high amount of praise from Alpha and glowers from Kappa and Delta for his efforts, which was weird because he’d gotten the mission done, didn’t he?

Where was he going with this?

Right. 

They were after Grace Hargreeves .The doctor/mother of the Umbrella Alliance’s hero team, the Academy. A small pulse of utter wrongness filled him when he thought about ending the woman in the one small photo that they had been given. She’d stared at him with soft color-changing eyes and he stared back.

_ “Why don’t you ever stop him, Mom?” _

_ “I don’t quite understand what you are asking of me, sweetheart.” _

_ A cool hand is pushed against his forehead _

_ “Dad hurts us, Mom, He hurts us. Why don’t you stop him?” _

_ “I can’t stop him. But I wish I could.” _

He blinked the tears forming in his eyes away as he tramped after Kappa and Delta through the forest. If they saw that he was upset, he'd never hear the end of it.

Retreating back to his brain, Epsilon went over the last mission that Delta had taken them on.

There had been a man there. A man etched into Epsilon’s head. He’d looked like one of the boys in Epsilon’s multitude of memories. And try as he might, Epsilon couldn’t shake it off.

Alpha called them flashes. Reflections, she’d said, of the weakness you could have. When you’re here with us, you’ll never have to live that weakness. We make you stronger. Epsilon would never admit that under her gaze, he had never felt strong.

His flashes were always filled with people. People he no longer knew the names of, but still wanted to see again. There were four males and two females around his size and age (but he didn’t know his age anymore), and a multitude of other voices. But these voices never mattered as much as the Epsilon-sized people. Clearly they didn’t matter enough if he couldn’t recall their faces and only brief memories of touch.

When he had told Alpha about the intensity of his memories, she’d laughed and told him that she would take care of it. Then he remembered nothing for awhile after that. 

“We can’t have you deserting us, Epsi!” She’d said easily, “We need you for the Apocalypse.”

Right. 

They needed him for the Apocalypse. He didn’t know what that was. Only that the mention of it gave Alpha a dark look in her eyes and he’d never remember anything for long periods of time after it was mentioned.

He didn’t really like it much. 

Scratch that, he  _ really really  _ hated the Apocalypse.

“Epsilon” **, ** He jumped a full foot in the air at the sound of Delta’s voice, distorted through the mask they were all required to wear, “What happened back there?”

He shook his head head at her, unable to respond. He’d never gotten passed on vocal permission from Alpha so he wasn’t allowed to speak. It was embarrassing really, being one of the only assassins not cleared to talk.

“Probably got distracted,” grunted Kappa, “Typical.”

Delta snorted with detached amusement, “You know we only keep you around because Alpha likes you, right?” She asked him, “If Alpha wasn’t so attached to you and your stupid little powers, you’d be dead.”

The easiest way to get Delta off him was to simply agree with everything she said, so he nodded slowly enough that she could see him. She took one glance backward and grunted in affirmation, “Good, at least you know your place.”

It had been Delta’s idea to torch the hospital when they were going past. According to her, the Academy, a famous group of Alliance heroes, were in there and if they could get rid of them, then they could more effectively take out Grace Hargreeves.

He tried to ignore the churn in his stomach when he thought about it.

Now they were tramping through the sweltering hot jungle, just him, Delta, Kappa and Delores. Delores hummed from where she was positioned in his bag, “If it makes you feel sick then why are you here?”

He patted her head with a sigh,  _ I don’t know why I’m here, Delores. _

“You never know,” she complained, “It’s very confusing.”

He glanced at her, a small blue and white polka dotted bunny that he’d had ever since he could remember (which wasn’t very much, but still.) She gave him an annoyed look, “I can’t talk to you when you’re in that place,” referring to the Aeternalis headquarters.

_ I’m aware.  _ He said to her,  _ I don’t know what I do when I’m in there either.  _

“Doesn’t that scare you a bit?” She said with a soft, concerned glance in his direction, “Not knowing.”

_ Of course it does,  _ He answered, his internal voice soft,  _ It scares me a lot. _

“Then you should go,” She said. It’s a track they’ve treaded before, numerous times. Epsilon and Delores, always coming back to the major issue at hand.

_ Where would I go?  _

She doesn’t know. And he doesn’t either. 

“You could always run away, live in the jungle. Live amongst the monkeys.”

There’s a sharp whiff of air from his nostrils as he imagined himself sitting in a tree with a monkey,  _ That’s a horrible idea.  _

“Why is that a horrible idea? I think it’s genius!”

_ Because of the trackers.  _ There’s something implanted in his arm, he’d noticed it a while ago. It occasionally emitted a sharp green light, most likely sending signals of his location back to headquarters.

“Rip it out, “ Delores said with the air of someone who thought that this was the most obvious course of action. Epsilon balked at that thought,  _ And have Kappa and Delta let me bleed out in the middle of the woods? No thanks. _

“Maybe you can do it when you’re off-planet?” Delores muttered thoughtfully, “Escape in a spaceship and travel the cosmos.”

_ There’s no evidence of another society past ours,  _ He replied simply,  _ and even if there was I don’t want to leave the planets. _

She knew that, that deep buried in his head, he’s here for someone or some people. But for the life of him, he can’t recall who. He’s not stupid, he knew that whoever it was they had something to do with the six dream people he saw in his flashes, but to this day he wasn’t sure.

Sometimes he wondered if those people in his memories were real, because of the dimness of everything, but..

That man.

The one who’d charged at him in the clearing, wrapped in an Alliance uniform and with a hunger for vengeance. He looked so familiar. 

He’d looked like the guy Epsilon often called ‘idiot’ in his flashes.

_ “You're an idiot.” _

_ “Whatever! ______, I know you’re going to love this.” _

_ “Yes, Dad’s face will be the best thing I’ve ever seen, but do I really want to get screamed at for hours for a prank that you did?” _

_ “We’ll be together! Getting yelled at together is always more fun.” _

_ “Sure.” _

He shook his head again, trying to fling the memory out of his head. Then an arm was pressed against his chest, Kappa having stopped him from progressing.

“We’re stopping here for the night,” He told Epsilon cooly. Epsilon, a bit overwhelmed, simply nodded.

He ended up alone by the firepit, poking it unenthusiastically with a stick. Delores watched him from her position in his backpack, silently contemplating.

“Hey,” said a voice from behind him, and Epsilon jumped, turning to see Kappa there, “Can I- Can I sit?”

There’s really no reason to refuse so he doesn’t, motioning to the log as an invite for Kappa to sit. He does in silence, watching Epsilon half-heartedly go back to shoving a stick into the flames.

“Are you happy?” Kappa asked, making Epsilon freeze in place,  _ Can Kappa read minds?  _ He quickly thought, meeting Delores’ eyes. She lifted her ears in a shrug.

In lieu of answering, Epsilon stuck his hand out and made a ‘so-so’ motion. Kappa huffed harshly, “Right you can’t talk.” As if it was a choice to not talk and not something Epsilon was forced to do. Everytime he did, his voice wouldn’t work, dying in his throat when he tried. He’d stopped his attempts after a while.

“Well, I wanted to ask you, because you didn’t look very happy to be here today,” said Kappa harshly, “And I wanted to give you some perspective. We’re on the winning side of this conflict.” Right, the Aeternalis would never call what was happening a ‘war’, it was always a conflict or disagreement.

“You should be grateful to be a part of it.”

He wasn’t.

“Don’t ever forget that, Epsilon.”

With his hazy memories and abstract grip on the passing of time, it was very likely he’d forget this conversation altogether, but he forced himself to nod in compliance. Kappa stood up, apparently accepting his nod as agreement.

Epsilon didn’t see it that way.

He and Delores watched Kappa retreat back to the tent that he was sharing with Delta, before Epsilon went back to staring into the flames.

“Epsi,” Delores said, using the nickname he hated to get his attention, “Do you ever wonder if-” She paused, but Epsilon can feel her trying to find the words for something, “Do you ever wonder if you’re the only person in all of the Aeternalis with these memory problems?”

_ What? _

“Think about it,” she pressed on, “I would think that someone else would have mentioned it by now, or at least seemed confused or spaced, like you are sometimes. But I’ve never seen anything like that with anyone else, so do you think that, you might be different?”

_ I am different,  _ he argued,  _ I'm the only one with extra powers. I’m the only one that’s small. I’m the only one Alpha talks to on a regular basis.  _

“So do you think that you’re the only one who is constantly confused?”

_ I don’t know.  _

She snorted, “Isn’t that shocking?”

_ Shut up, Delores. _

He stood up, his legs shaking from lack of movement and headed back to the smaller tent that he had set up earlier. 

He dreamed of the man at the hospital, his face melting through Epsilon’s hands, The screams of millions of voices clamoring around them and a single shot of a gun, ripping its way through his body. The six people from his flashes watch in sorrow as he died in the man’s arms, blood soaking through their shirts.

When he woke up, he could almost recall their names.

Almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think about it, Epsilon is a baby who never got to grow up in this fic, so technically he's baby.
> 
> This is just me making my case of Epsilon being baby. 
> 
> Next Time; Ben blows this case wide open. The Academy comes home.


	13. we were never ordinary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goddamn what a beautiful world  
Limitless  
Oh, like we were kids  
-Color Morning, Night Riots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mostly worldbuilding, this chapter is. I’m posting it from my phone, so if there’s any issues let me know!

There are 208 dark brown spots on the ceiling, the most out of the 543 total spots on the ceiling. There’s a mix of dark brown, tan, gray and the odd white spots and Ben has counted every single one, multiple times.

“I’m bored,” He announced to the completely empty room. Well, probably not completely empty if he was going to go off Klaus’ complaints about the mass amount of ghosts constantly surrounding him, but it was empty as far as he could see.

Justin rumbled in his stomach and Ben quickly shushed them.

“Can we not right now?”

Ben spent a solid minute staring at his stomach where Justin dwelt, attempting telepathy with the beast in his chest. In all the years he’d known Justin, the monster had never spoken to him, just irritated rumbles or happy purrs. Like a cat.

Is Justin secretly a cat?

Before the thought escaped him, he scribbled it down on one of the many notepads sitting on his desk. Eventually slamming the book down and moaning.

“What is happening to me Justin?” He asked the monster, “I’m normally good at entertaining myself.”

This was a true fact. After Ben’s legs had been ripped to shreds by Justin (thanks a lot), he’d gotten good at finding ways to occupy his time. Normally he would research anything he could get his hands on, including his sibling’s powers among the things he’d dived into. He’d become a mechanic for awhile in an attempt to build ‘ghost-seeing’ goggles for Klaus even though he’d protested that Klaus didn’t need the goggles to see ghosts. Klaus had simply winked and said that they were for ‘a special someone.’ For Dave of course.

He’d also looked into something called evaporation, a name coined by a famous anti-war politician. Evaporation occurred when the Aeternalis invaded towns, the homes would remain untouched by the armies and only the people would disappear. Entire towns vanished into thin air. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it dropped the mass population of the Alliance severely. It was interesting, but ultimately pointless.

Another thing he’d looked into were the Aeternalis themselves: Where they’d come from? Who was their leader? What did they want with the Academy? How did they choose their assassins? 

Why’d they kill Five?

That was the ultimate question of that investigation, one that led nowhere. In the end, Ben had been forced to come to the conclusion that Five’s death had either just been a way to break the Academy, or a way to get rid of a threat to them. He would like to believe the latter because Five had just been that smart, but realistically the former was more likely. 

The Aeternalis were known for their cruelty after all.

He flipped through the stack of papers on his desk with annoyance, and then begins to read his own journals. Most of them are stuffed with pointless questions that he’d never answer or never look into again, but one caught his eyes.

_ What is wrong with Mom? _

A weird question, one he didn’t even remember scribbling down, but an intriguing one. And Mom was here!

Ben snatched one of the notebooks off the desk and a pencil, setting them down on his lap and wheeling out of the room, towards the infirmary. To where Mom was.

He wheeled down the hallways, energy from new resolve flowing through his bones. He practically sailed across the hallways and he might’ve caused a couple of minor incidents (I mean, who just stands in the middle of hallways for Ben to run them over?) He arrived at the door to the infirmary, panting with a reddened flush all over his face, “MOM!”

She stopped moving whatever box she was moving to beam at him, “Hello, Ben!” 

He easily glided over to her, ignoring the awkward stares as the soldiers and nurses around them, glanced between the two of them trying to see a resemblance. Awkward..

Quickly, he gave her the biggest hug he could manage while seated. She returned it with a beam. With a slight glance at the other people still standing around them, Ben took her by the hand, “Can we take this outside?”

“Sure, sweetheart.” She agreed easily, following him out the door and into the hallway. Her eyelids fluttered at him, eyes shifting to the soft purple of curiosity, “What do you need?”

“I wanted to know a bit about you?” asked Ben, clicking his pen at her, “Like..”

“Oh!’ Grace gasped, itching her arm, “I am your mother, that is all you need to know.”

“Ok.., Um- Do you have any other kids? Like biological ones?”

“No, just you seven!” Grace said absently, ignoring Ben’s flinch. When Five had died she had never been able to move on, setting out extra plates for him, asking Vanya if she had seen Five, making his bed, and even frequently washing his clothes. Diego had even observed that she’d seemed more distant after Five and even saw Reginald screaming at her to stop because, “it kept up the delusion that Number Five even existed at all.”

“Just us  _ seven?”  _ he put the emphasis on the seven, gently trying to steer her towards acknowledgment of the absence of Five. What he wasn’t prepared for was the next words that came out of her mouth.

“Just you seven, although once upon a time there were a lot more of you!”

“What?”

“Oh yes,” Grace said pleasantly, like she hadn’t taken a massive bomb and smashed it over Ben’s head, “One time, very long ago, I had forty-three of you! It was stressful but fun! Your father hired me to help him take care of them all, although I never did find out where the other thirty-six of them went.”

“Dad said. Dad said that the Aeternalis killed them all,” Ben said, mind completely blank, “He said that’s why he took us in. To keep us from the same fate.”

Grace blinked at him, confused, “No. Your father got all of them. He did some testing and then narrowed it down to seven.”

“What do you mean, narrowed it down?” 

“He chose one child from each planet in the Alliance to represent them in the Academy. He chose the ones with the strongest powers.”

“What happened to the others?” Ben’s voice tinged on the end of hysteria.

Grace met his eyes with a blank stare and a strained smile, “I have no idea.”

Ben’s mind was a whirl of thoughts and ideas but he grit his teeth in the face of his innocent mother, “Thanks Mom. You have no idea how helpful this was to me!”

Her eyes lit up, “I’m glad to be of assistance! Let me know if you need anything else!” She leaned foreword, placing a kiss on his forehead before heading back into the infirmary. He watched her go, keeping his back straight and a smile on his face until he was sure she was gone before deflating.

“What the fuck.” 

Justin roared in agreement.

He headed back to his room where all his data was, mapping out things in his head. What his mom had told him changed his entire perspective if he was honest. Now there’s something he never understood before explained. Where the other thirty-six had gone.

Knowing his dad, they had been “silenced.” But even someone who had been bought off by his father would’ve broken their silence eventually. Extra powers were incredibly hard to hide from people, Ben knew that from experience. So..

He couldn’t rule out the possibility of murder. 

And he knew how his father would cover up deaths in the family with Five.

When he and Vanya found Five’s body down in the catacombs, their father had swept the incident under the rug, not even bothering to do any standard procedures such as DNA testing or further investigation. Hell, there was never even an autopsy confirming Five’s cause of death and even worse, they didn’t even get an official confirmation that the body was Five’s, though there was no way it could have been anyone else.

They never got the closure they needed, which left their brother’s murder a fresh wound for most of them, but especially Vanya.

He remembered her on TV interviews, years after she left, accusing their father of covering up the deaths and injuries of the Academy, and, in one passionate interview,even spoke of her thoughts that their father might’ve killed Five on purpose, a thought that had been shared by other Academy members.

He missed Five a lot, especially now. Five would probably be able to figure out the Aeternalis in a millisecond, all while calling Ben stupid the entire time.

When Ben had moved in with Klaus, he had asked him, one dark night, if Klaus had ever seen the ghost of their little brother. And Klaus, taking things seriously for once, answered that he hadn’t seen Five’s legit ghost, though he had had very vivid hallucinations of Five calling him an idiot before. He had reassured Ben that he was positive they were hallucinations because “Five would never wear a neon green shirt.”

Ben had laughed and told him that that was most likely true.

He arrived at his very old cork board with a grunt and began to move the string around, writing down a card with “Murder? of the 36” and “Reggie being a thot.”

Yes, he was very scientific.

By the time his eyelids were beginning to drag downwards, making his vision blur, Ben had connected several loose strings together.

But there was still the utter enigma that was the Aeternalis in general. He knew almost nothing about them, other than general facts and statistics. His vision slurred the numbers together and honestly, Ben was ready to collapse on the spot and take a well-deserved nap.

But just as he slipped into unconsciousness, he noticed something he never had before. Two graphs.

During his rearranging of his table, they must have gotten next to each other, which was odd because neither had anything to do with the other, but now.. they did.

The charts were “Alliance Population during the 30 Years of Fighting,” which as you could guess went downward steadily with the only significant declines being when the Aeternalis did an evaporation, and “Estimated Aeternalis Army Numbers during the 30 Years of Fighting,” which oddly, went upwards, with random significant increases at seemingly random intervals.

Only now did Ben notice, they weren’t random at all.

Every time there was an evaporation, the mass number of Aeternalis soldiers went upwards in a big way, increasing by the hundreds. Every time. 

“What the..”

Ben’s mind, tired and overworked, squinted at these charts, trying to make sense of the numbers. When the Alliance went down, the Aeternalis went up.When the Alliance went down, the Aeternalis went up.When the Alliance went down, the Aeternalis went up.

“Justin,” he said to his stomach monster, “Are you seeing this?”

Justin let out an angry rumble which Ben interpreted as  _ I don’t have eyes asshole. _

“When the Alliance goes down, the Aeternalis goes up,” he said aloud in an attempt to make sense of the world, “Unless..”

Unless the Aeternalis aren’t gaining new soldiers from their unknown population, but rather from the Alliance’s.

Like leeches. Leeching people away from their homes and forcing them to fight for an unknown cause. 

Ben’s mind is spinning, tiredness forgotten in lieu of this mind blowing discovery.

“But how,” he’s muttering aloud, as speaking his thoughts always helped him think better, “Why would hundreds of people join an enemy army for no reason?”

_ Unless they didn’t have a choice. _

And Ben’s head officially broke open with the power of his own thoughts. Mind exploding internally, Ben grabbed the nearest piece of paper and began to write everything down as quick as possible.

He ended up not sleeping a wink, but it was all worth it. 

If his theory is right, then he’s just uncovered the biggest conspiracy in the entire time that he’s been alive. 

And if he’s wrong, then this is the biggest series of coincidences that he’s ever seen.

This is big time, this could end the war if he figured out what to do with it. 

He needed his siblings opinions first. 

And luckily as he fumbled around for his wheelchair, he could hear arguing down the hall. He loved his siblings but, JEEZ, they were loud. Especially at whatever time this was. He glanced at the clock on the side of his bed which read 1:40 pm.

Oh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Ben reveals his theory to the others, there’s mild panic.


	14. be careful what you wish for, you just might get it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When I was younger, I would say  
When I grow up, I wanna be famous  
I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies  
When I grow up, I wanna see the world  
Drive nice cars, I wanna have groupies
> 
> -When I Grow Up, The Pussycat Dolls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I have an excuse for this other than I'm very excited? Nope?
> 
> We're more than halfway through the first part rn and UGH i'm excited.
> 
> A quick thank you to everyone who follows this story, I cherish every single comment even if I don't reply I still do read them with a stupid smile on my face!
> 
> (I know I'm a fast updater, I'm not really sorry about that but I get very excited and then poof, a chapter is done.)

When Ben pulled out the corkboard, Allison knew it was going to be a long couple of minutes. Whenever Ben went on a tirade about anything, she could literally feel every single one of her brother’s eyes glaze over with boredom. The only person who really paid attention to these rants was Vanya because it took a lot to actually bore her. So when the entire Academy squished into Ben’s room to listen to him talk, she could tell it was going to end in flames.

“So,” Ben said, hitting his own cork board with a pointer, “I have a theory about the Aeternalis for you guys and I wanted to run it by you.”

“Oh joy,” Diego flopped onto Ben’s creaky bed with a moan, “So we aren’t going to talk about the fact that a hospital was just blown up and instead we’re going to discuss theories about our greatest enemies. What a wonderful and productive use of our time.”

He then shouted in pain as Ben thawpped him with his pointer, “Be serious! If I’m right, then this changes everything.”

“Everything meaning what, exactly?” Luther said from the door where he had been banished. He was too big to fit on the bed that was currently occupied by Diego, Klaus and Vanya.

Ben huffed a sharp burst of air, finally pointing to two charts placed on the corkboard, “This is the mass population of the Alliance compared to the mass estimate of the armies of the Aeternalis.”

“So,” scoffed Klaus, ignoring the blaze of fury coming from Ben’s eyeballs, “We have a lot less people than the Aeter-whatsits. That’s not something new, Ben, people talk about that all the time.”

“But, look every time the Aeternalis gains people, the Alliance loses a ton,” The pointer moved rapidly between the two graphs in an attempt to make a point. This is apparently significant enough for Diego to sit upright and stare at the corkboard with new interest.

“Huh,” His tone is respectfully begrudging, “You’re right.”

“What does that mean, Ben?” Allison piped up from where she’s perched on the dresser, “I don’t see the significance of it.”

“I’m glad you asked!” replied Ben in the tone of voice that’s way too peppy for this situation. Allison smacked herself mentally for allowing Ben to go on a tirade. 

“It was actually your powers that made me think of it, Allison. But, what if the Aeternalis isn’t adding new people from their planet to fight us, what if they are taking people from ours? With mind control!” With that statement, he set down his pointer with a note of finality

“It’s sorta hard to wrap your head around.” Luther commented, tilting his head up, “But..”

Diego stood up, ramrod straight, eyes widened, “It makes perfect sense!”

“It does?” They all say at the same time, even Ben. Diego nodded in affirmation, beginning to pace back and forth, “I always found it weird that the Aeternalis soldiers hide their faces just like the assassins do. Wouldn’t wearing a mask as a soldier hinder your mobility and air-flow? But if they were all people mind-controlled to do something, there would be a chance they could see someone they know on our side.”

“Or someone on our side could see them and figure out the Aeternalis’ method.” Filled with triumph, Ben stared at his siblings, “It makes sense.”

Allison inclined her head thinking, “I agree that it makes sense. But if mind-control is the correct method that they are using, then there would have to be someone or something that is the figurehead. And we have no idea who or what that could be.”

“True,” Ben said uncomfortably. It was clear that he hadn’t thought about this when coming up with this theory, “But my thought process presumed it was a person rather than an object. When I came up with it, I used Allison’s powers as a baseline and went from there.”

“Why Allison’s..” Vanya trailed off, smacking herself in the head as she realized the obvious, “Never mind.”

“Anyways,” Ben said with a massive eye roll, “What I was going to say is that based on Allison’s powers, it’s harder to force a person to do more complicated things. Much less an entire army.”

“Right,” Allison said, remembering one incident where she’d had to force a man to unlock a door for them. It had taken a lot of complicated phrasing of her words for the man to execute the demand. She’d been glowing with pride when she’d finally gotten it.

“So my thought is, what if the soldiers just have one thing that they have to do, like fight or something and the more complicated demands are given to a select group of people.”

“The assassins,” realized Vanya, hand flying to her mouth. Ben snapped his fingers with a wide smile, “Exactly.”

Klaus is staring at nothing, eyes far away as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing, “So you’re saying.. That whoever killed Dave.” He can’t finish the sentence, Diego gave him a sympathetic pat.

Allison picked up the thought Klaus left lingering in the air, “Might not have even known that they were doing it.”

“Fuck,” Diego breathed into the silence, “All those people.  _ I’ve had to kill innocent people. _ ”

It’s that that gets them, the room dense with the weight of what Diego’s just implied. Allison’s hands are shaking. It’s too reminiscent of the entire situation with Patrick and Claire for her to take, but on a much wider and more brutal scale. With her it was little things, getting Claire to calm down or drink her milk, but forcing a mass group of people to fight their own friends and family was too much.

She felt sick to her stomach and with a glance around the room, she could tell her siblings felt close to the same.

“Fuck,” Luther exhaled loudly, “Fuck, that’s so messed up.”

Vanya jolted suddenly like she’s been struck, “Five.”

They all turn to look at her as she stared at the charts on Ben’s corkboard, like she’s putting the pieces together on a twisted up puzzle of their lives, “They were trying to kidnap him that night, what if they wanted him like all those innocent people? What if he resisted and then..” She choked on her words, unable to continue the thought.

Allison can feel the bile rising in her throat at the thought of Five fighting back against an unknown force, only to be struck down.

“Which leads me to my next point,” Ben took the conversation away from the elephant in the room, “I talked to Mom about us and she mentioned that the missing thirty-six children used to live with us.”

“What?” They really should stop shouting at the same time, it always left Allison’s head spinning.

“According to Mom, Dad got all the kids before he chose us out of them all. She doesn’t know what happened to the other thirty-six, but she heavily implied that they could be dead.” Ben’s face is oddly contemplative, “At first I thought that maybe one of the thirty-six was behind the Aeternalis’ mind- control, but they declared war when we were only a few days old.”

Luther muttered a slight string of curses under his breath. It was obvious that he’d thought similarly. Diego sighed, trying to think of a solution. Vanya is silent, a hollow look on her face that most of them have come to associate with Five. Klaus’s face can only be described as conflicted, torn between fear and anger. Allison doesn’t know what her face looks like, but if it’s anything reflecting the bile in her throat and the queasy feeling in her stomach, it’s not pretty.

“We need more information,” She decided for the group, raising her head to meet Ben’s, “Do you have any more information?”

He shook his head, “I ran through all the info I have, trying to match it to anything on this board,” He made a motion to the corkboard, “Nothing.”

Vanya heaved an annoyed grunt, “There has to be more that we are missing.”

“Unless we can literally kidnap a soldier and somehow snap them out of whatever mind-control that they’re under, I doubt we’re going to get much info,” Ben shrugged, “But if we could access their databases somehow…” He trailed off, stumped.

They all sit in sullen silence, all running through the possible solutions to their dilemma until Luther moved.

“I’ve got it!” They all turn towards their brother, hope lighting up their faces as he slammed his fist into his hand, “One time, Dad sent me on a mission to a moon.”

“And here we go,” Diego said, full of sarcasm. He immediately got slapped by Allison, “Ow! What the hell!?”

“We don’t have time for Moon Man jokes,” she said with her best sister glare. He folded under her gaze with a scowl, “Fine.”

Luther pressed on, barely affected by Diego’s joke, “But there was a base on that moon that Dad told me not to go to.”

“And you didn’t?” Klaus raised his brow at his brother, “I’m seriously disappointed in you, Luther.”

This time, Luther stopped talking to shoot Klaus a significant look that Klaus ignored, “So, I didn’t go into this moon base, but from the looks of it, it was an Aeternalis base.”

“And you didn’t go in?” Klaus repeated, his brow floating away into his hairline, “I can’t believe you. How are we brothers?”

“Technically we aren’t related,” Luther protested which Klaus waved away, “We were raised together. I’m surprised I didn’t rub off on you.”

“Klaus don’t rub off on your siblings,” Ben immediately responded, resulting in a shriek of laughter from Klaus and a horrified gasp from Vanya and Luther. Allison buried her face into her hands with a moan, “Is this what I have to live with for the rest of my life?”

Diego stopped in his laughter to stare at Allison, “Are you implying that you’re going to spend your life with us?”

“Well, I-” She isn’t going to admit that she’s been enjoying these past few days with the rest of her family. Even with all the stress and arguments, she’s been having a good time here, and she doesn’t want that all to go away when they end this.

“Yea, maybe I am.” She said fixing Diego with a smile,” What’s wrong with that?”

Now it’s  _ his  _ turn to be flustered, “Nothing.”

“Focus!” Ben said sharply, drawing their attention with a snap of his fingers, “Luther, tell us a bit more.”

Their brother nodded, his brow slightly wrinkled, “I got the impression that it wasn’t a very important base since it had been abandoned and not destroyed to get rid of evidence, but there’s still a chance that we can dig up some information there.”

“Sounds promising,” agreed Diego, “I say we should check it out.”

“I agree,” Vanya said, folding in on herself when the others looked her way, “It makes sense to do it.”

Luther, despite being the one to suggest it, was adamant, “If we get hurt out there then we could end up losing our lives in an unknown area. We’d abandon all the people relying on us.”

Klaus blew a raspberry in Luther’s direction, getting spit all over his face, “Fuck that noise. How does anyone get anything done without a little risk? I say we shoot for the moon.” He winked at Ben, obviously proud of his cheeky pun. Ben just gave him a disapproving glance.

“Allison?”

She weighed the pros and cons in her head, although in her heart she agreed with the others, her head told it that the risk wasn’t worth it. With a sharp exhale she made her opinion known, “I think it’s very, very risky, but I do think it’s worth the risk if we can do it successfully.”

“YES!” Klaus shouted, pumping his fist into the air, floating above the other’s heads, “Let’s go to the moon!”

“It’s not  _ the Moon,”  _ Luther said with all the arrogance of an older brother, “It’s a moon.”

“You said it, Moon Man,” Diego replied with mock seriousness.

* * *

It’s a miracle that they find a spacecraft that can fit all six of them in there. Actually, it’s a miracle that they were able to get the spacecraft at all considering Luther had to ‘borrow’ it from a local soldier that just happened to be ‘the biggest Spaceboy fan’. Luther came back to them after that conversation with a stricken look on his face, letting Klaus laugh at his misery.

He presented to them the keys to their spaceship, or as Klaus called it, “our spacey wacey.” Diego dryly informed him that the spacecraft was not called the spacey wacey but in fact the Apollo. Klaus had laughed so hard he’d fallen over and it took both Diego and Luther to drag him into the ship.

“Family bonding,” he’d informed Allison when she asked why he did that. With a sigh, she’d followed him into the ship. As the others piled into the cramped ship, including Ben and his wheelchair, Luther clambered into the front seat, ready to drive them towards adventure.

It took them almost thirty minutes to find their destination and when they do, it’s a two day journey.

“I fucking hate everything about this,” Diego complained for the millionth time as Klaus slept on top of him. Poor Diego is squashed to the side as Klaus’ lanky arms take up most of the seat they’re perched on. Vanya grinned from her small seat all by herself, “Stop complaining Diego!”

“You have it easy!” He shouted at her, not noticing Klaus’s open eyes which means he’s definitely awake and doing this entire thing on purpose. She’s glad that at least for the moment, it seemed like Klaus was feeling normal and not murderous, even if it would really only be for a little while. 

Ben simply gazed at her from the midst of the Diego/Klaus chaos and she’s amazed at how calm he seems. Granted he’s had a lot more time to process this than the rest of them, but still. As they stare at each other for a bit longer, Ben suddenly made a move coming over to her side.

“Are you okay, Allison?” He asked sympathetically. Allison cocked her head, not sure what he means, “I’m fine, I think.”

“Good,” Ben said with an odd note to his voice, “I wanted to tell you something, that I don’t think Vanya should hear.”

“Shoot.”

“What if Five’s abduction wasn’t what it seemed it was?” and all her thoughts slammed on their brakes. “What?”

“With everything that we’ve just uncovered-” Allison waved her hand, cutting him off, “You uncovered it, Ben, not us.”

“Right,” He sighed apologetically, “But Five. I’m scared, Allison. Back then, it was just a tragic event, but now I’m starting to wonder.”

There’s no easy way for him to say it, she can read it all over his face, “I’m starting to wonder why Five was chosen. He’s not the strongest. That’s Luther. He’s not the one with the most powerful powers, Vanya. Hell, with what we figured out today, wouldn’t it make sense to go for you?”

_ Yes, yes it would,  _ she realized what Ben was putting forward. What if Five’s abduction wasn’t as random as once believed? What if there’s a reason they went for Five instead?

“Teleportation and mood-changing eyes,” Allison recalled, “I can’t see any advantage with those.”

“Exactly,” Ben said seemingly ready to go on but she interrupted him, “However we don’t know the whole story.”

“Not what I was going to say,” He admitted shooting her an annoyed look at her interruption, “But remember Five was smart. Like crazy smart.”

“Not in all areas,” She argued, remembering a time where Five had teleported into a table, knocking out his own teeth, “But yes, I see where you’re coming from.”

“What if they didn’t want his powers?”

“What if they wanted something else?”

And there's a stranglehold on her lungs, she can’t breathe. 

What if…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: The Academy learns about more than they bargained for, including a threat to one of their own. Elsewhere, Epsilon begins preparations for his next mission


	15. if i could make days last forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But there never seems to be enough time  
To do the things you want to do, once you find them  
I've looked around enough to know  
That you're the one I want to go through time with
> 
> -Time in a Bottle, Lykke Li

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When writing this chapter, i let the words get away from me and all the sudden I have a ton of words.
> 
> So the original chap 15 is split into two chapters, sorry lmao

Ever since he was a child, Luther wanted to go to space. Who wouldn’t? They lived in an Alliance made of several different planets, why would Luther not want to become a part of it? It had been his dream ever since he was a child and the second he was allowed to choose his own career path, he’d insisted on becoming a pilot, ready to turn his childhood dreams into reality. 

He loved flying Flying was a way for him to escape the ground that constantly tugged him downwards, his body manipulated by the force of gravity, although on the other planets in the Alliance’s system, things worked differently.

The one that the Capital was on, Diego’s homeland, was rich with jungles and volcanoes. It was also sweltering hot with a humid climate. Allison’s planet was apparently lush fields and massive cave systems. Vanya’s was littered with lakes and peaceful forests. Ben’s was all ocean, with splashes of islands every thousand miles. The planet Klaus was from was covered with high-rising mountains and deep canyons to the point where it was nicknamed “The Lump.” The arid planet Five was born on was all desert. 

But Luther’s… was considered the prettiest planet in the system. Coated with white sandy beaches and cool breezes, supposedly, gravity was weak there. He had never been before. In fact, he’d never been off planet Diego. 

He wanted to see the others. He wanted to stand in the fields of Allison’s and tell them all the good things she’d ever done for him. He wanted to take Vanya to the lakes of hers and talk, just the two of them. He wanted to sail on a small boat with Ben, looking at all the different kinds of things on each island and laughing at the birds. He wanted to go rock-climbing through The Lump’s - well, lumps- with Klaus, even if he complained about it the entire time.

He wanted to stand in the desert wasteland of Five’s and tell it that he was sorry.

It had been a dream of his since he was a kid, ever since he discovered that each of his siblings had a planet. One planet with one sibling. And then, he’d settle down on his own, and never move again.

He smiled at the stars.

Then there was a loud banging sound on the captain’s door behind him, almost desperate. Luther, already aware of what’s probably happening in the back of the spacecraft, opened the door to let the person in. Immediately the cabin is filled with noise of loud bickering and shouting. The corners of Luther’s mouth turn up at the familiar sound.

“Thanks,” said a gruff voice as the door slid shut, trapping the two of them in there together. 

“No problem.”

Diego sat grouchily in the passenger seat, setting his feet onto the dashboard with a smile. In his hand is a knife, not an unfamiliar sight when it comes to Diego, but he’s not flipping the knife or anything, instead he’s studying Luther’s face with his dagger-like stare.

“What,” snapped Luther, unable to take the pressure of Diego’s gaze.

Diego blinked, before chuckling darkly, “Nothing, I just wanted to escape the noise back there.”

“Oh.”

“Yea.”

Numbers One and Two watch the stars together, both unable to pierce the veil of silence between them. Instead, Luther slid back into the familiar routine of steering the ship around meteoroids and debris and dreaming of other worlds. Diego’s head is on a tilt as he slumped down in the opposing seat, his knife twisting in his hands.

“I was with a friend.”

Startled at Diego’s voice, Luther jumped, hitting his head on the roof of the ship. Diego bit his lip, trying not to laugh at his brother’s expense.

“What do you mean?” 

Diego blew a sharp burst of air, moving a small piece of hair that was out of place, “When Dad was killed, My ex-girlfriend got hurt by an assassin named Delta. I had no time to clear my absence with my superiors. I was with her on the night Dad died.”

“Oh,” Luther said, gaze distant, “Why do you feel the need to tell me this now?”

Diego leaned forward hungrily like a shark, his eyes are locked onto Luther’s. He can smell blood in the air, “Because you think I did it.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Liar,” Diego’s smile changed from shark-like to fond, “If I were you, I’d think I did it too.”

Luther tried to play ignorant, instead of admitting guilt, he simply pursed his lips, “Really? I didn’t check on where you were when Dad was killed.”

Luther has always been a bad liar. It’s a known Academy fact. Part of him had always wondered if that’s why he was the leader of the Academy because of his terrible lying skills, so he couldn’t bluff his way out of punishments from Dad. Normally he can’t tell when he’s being a shitty liar, but in the brief moment, even he can hear the shittiness flowing out of his mouth. It’s obvious why he was considered the worst liar in the entire world.

Diego’s face pruned up in a way that let Luther know he trying not to laugh for the sake of his manly ego. 

“Really Luther? Don’t lie to me.”

“I thought it was you,” Luther folded into his brother’s demanding glare, “I told Allison and she told me I was stupid.”

Diego blinked, startled that his interrogation actually worked and then chuckled, “I’ll have to thank her later then, because that truly was stupid on your part, Space.” The use of an old childhood nickname relaxed Luther a wee-bit and he loosened his grip on the spaceship controls.

“You aren’t mad?’ asked Luther, finally averting his eyes from the meteoroid that he’s been fixated on for the past couple of minutes, “I didn’t want to tell you because I thought you would be mad.”

“Oh no,” said Diego, dismissively, “I’m fucking pissed. But, you’re my dumbass brother and I can’t be very mad at you when I didn’t even tell you what I was doing. So although I'm angry with you, I’m also being understanding of your pain.”

Luther felt like the world is setting him slowly on fire. _ Diego? His Diego.  _ Angry, impulsive, Diego. Being understanding. Of his pain.

Diego apparently doesn’t feel the need to explain, leaving Luther in the dark when he turned back to stare out the window. And if he’s honest, Luther doesn’t feel the need to pick that entire interaction apart. But he can’t ignore the flash of relief that Diego wasn’t the one who’d poisoned their father, a flash of relief that Number Two was still trustworthy, relief that Luther didn’t have to pick his way around Diego like a nervous animal.

Relief that he wasn’t alone in leading the Academy into the dark.

* * *

Diego filed out of the room after about two hours, to “go take a nap” he told Luther seriously. He’s replaced by Allison, who isn’t as talkative as Klaus or even Ben. The two of them only exchange a couple of pleasantries, before they sit in silence, giving Luther time to think about everything that’s been going on lately.

As he’d said before, mind-control was sorta hard to wrap your head around. Of course he knew it could be done, he had Allison Hagreeves as a sister, but an entire army? Was a bit unrealistic. Not that he was one for realism, living in an intergalactic war zone, but it was still a bit too wild, even for him.

And there was still the fact that if Ben was right and it was mind-control, then he’d been fighting his own people for years, killing them. How many people had he used to know? How many had families looking for them? How many had looked up to him as children, only to die by his hand?

It was too surreal to think about and the thought of it made Luther feel dirty. 

Those kinds of thought were the ones circling around his head for hours, he hadn’t come up with any new revelations or anything, but the guilt was eating him alive and by the time he saw the moon in the distance, Luther fully believed that it was his fault that all those people were lost to the Aeternalis.

If the Academy had come back together sooner, could they could have saved more people? If they had been paying attention, could they have figured out the conspiracy sooner? If Dad had known, could they have stopped the Aeternalis when they were younger and better? If Luther had known, would he have even joined the air force?

The moon that they're heading to approached the ship with a gradual speed as Luther hunkered in on himself, preparing to land.

The ship shuddered as it flew through the small atmosphere on the moon, it’s wings shifting to a new position to make up for the gravity yanking them to the floor of the moon. The gravity on this moon is stronger than then average moon, Luther’s brain helpfully said, well read on all the aspects of the moons.

He poked his head through the center door behind him, into the back of the ship where his siblings are, “We’re here.”

He opened his eyes to the scene in front of him, Diego is on top of a struggling Klaus with a satisfied smirk on his face. Vanya is curled up in the corner, fast asleep, her baggy clothes wrapped around her like an odd blanket. Ben is staring dully at a stack of papers, his dyed hair a mess. And Allison is behind him, looking sleepy but excited.

“We are?” Ben asked, lifting his head, staring at Luther with red-rimmed eyes. It’s clear he hasn’t been sleeping. Luther nodded in affirmation causing Diego to stand up, letting a thoroughly disgruntled Klaus stand up. Vanya only shifted sleepily, dead to the world, before she was shaken awake by Klaus.

“Hrrrnn-wha?” she slurred, rising to her feet as Klaus began to move away from her, fine with waking her up but scared of what she would do once she discovered his treachery. “We are here,” Luther responded kindly as she stumbled over to the door. On instinct she lifted one hand to open it, but before she could, Luther put his hand over hers, “Wait here.”

“Wha-” She asked, still halfway asleep as Luther carefully moved her over to the left side of the back of the spacecraft. The others stared mystified until he made a motion for them all to move over with her. 

God, it’s like herding sheep.

With all his siblings safely on the other side, Luther let down the airlock, took a deep breath and opened the door.

* * *

Epsilon had never complained before about the conditions under which he was forced to work in. But right now at this very moment, he wished more than anything he could sent a complaint in.

“You’re delirious,” Delores admonished him, her normally soothing voice grating against his ears like nails on a chalkboard. He shook his head hard, a desperate attempt to free himself from the pounding in his head and the strain on his limbs.

Just put one foot in front of the other, he told himself, looking down at his own feet pushing his slowly dying body forewords. The glaring pain in his head slowly began to burn its way down to his jaw. 

“Epsilon,” Delores questioned and he flinched at the mention of his own name. There’s a mute pause and then she continued, “Are you ok?”

She’s staring at him with a gleam of kindness in her eyes, ready to take whatever load he’s carrying but there’s no way he can put into words that hearing his own name feels.. wrong. 

It’s almost ridiculous how much it hurt to hear his own name. There’s a tingle every single time it’s said. One that pounded in his jaw and spread itself all over him, a feeling of general unease and wrongness, that ate away at him.

“You hate your name?” asked Delores, ignoring Epsilon’s internal curse at the easy way she can read him, “You’ve never hated it before?”

_ It feels weird _ , he answered with a grimace, _ I don’t understand... It’s not right. _

“Then what is right?” she implored, trying to understand him, “What is right?”

_ I don’t know _ , he practically sobbed, hands at the sides of his head,  _ I don’t remember. _

Sweat dropped down his body, and time blurred together. Twenty seconds passed by in a millisecond, then three minute dragged on for days. Dizzy and frightened, he stumbled after Delta and Kappa, grass brushing against his legs. He wasn’t sure how long he was like that until the grass was rushing up to meet his head and suddenly he was thrown into a flash, a memory.

_ There’s hands around him, covering his mouth. He thrashed in desperation, trying to break free of them. What’s happening? he tried to shout, feeling for the familiar pulse in his chest. His powers could get him out of this, couldn’t they? _

_ Then an odd stick is jabbed into his side and he has one second to register the uncomfortable thing in his side, before it split a white hot jolt up his side. _

_ Electrocution, he realized, I’m being electrocuted. _

_ There’s only pain and panic and he wanted more than anything else to be free of this torment. He twisted back and forth, trying to wrench their hands off him and get away when there’s a voice at the door. _

_ “Five?” _

_ There’s a girl at his door that he doesn’t know, yet knew almost as well as he knew himself. Her bangs are brushed to the side and there’s a sandwich gripped in her tiny hands. Her eyes are wide and afraid and he shook his head, telling her to leave. Go away. It’s better that it’s him than her. _

_ He doesn’t know this girl.  _

_ The hands are back and he’s pulled backwards, watching the girl’s shocked face as she got further and further away. She screamed, the lights in the room going dark as the people surrounding him pulled him down and down and down.  _

_ “Five!” is the last thing he heard her say, before he’s swallowed up by the floor. _

He came to with a jolt, his body feeling significantly better than it had previously, but also lighter. As his eyes readjust to the light, he realized why, he’s being carried, the most humiliating thing possible. He took a swing at the back of the person holding him over their shoulder. 

There’s a grunt and Epsilon is on the floor again, this time by choice as the person who was carrying him shouted at him, asking why he’d smacked them. Epsilon glanced up in Kappa’s angry face with haze clouding his vision.

He wanted Kappa out of his face, so he simply dipped his head, which was still pulsing, in understanding, despite not being able to understand the words coming out of Kappa’s mouth.

“Epsi-,” rang out Delores’ voice in his ear before remembering his earlier pains about his name. She paused not sure how to address him, then deciding to simply forge ahead anyways, “You’ve been out for almost five hours.”

_ I have?  _ he asked as Kappa continued to try and grill him with questions he had no way of answering anyways,  _ What happened? _

“You collapsed from dehydration,” She replied, “Did you forget to drink water?”

_ Yes,  _ he admitted because although he wasn’t sure if he had forgotten, given his current track record he probably had.

From behind his field of vision, Kappa gave up and headed away from him to where Delta was waiting, the only sounds he made were the footsteps of his retreat. Epsilon grabbed his bag that Kappa had dropped when he was attacked and followed after.

“Where do you go?” Delores asked, her voice calm but still harshly grating in his ears, He winced. 

_ To a room,  _ He answered, recalling the oddly familiar room he had been in,  _ There was a girl in there.  _

She paused, thinking, “Was it one of the mystery kids you dream about?”

_ Yes,  _ he replied, remembering her brown bangs,  _ I... _

He missed her. Was what he was about to say. He missed her so much that his chest constricted when thinking about her face. 

Wait…

_ I can remember her face,  _ he whispered to Delores even though there was no one to hear him,  _ Delores, I can remember her face. In  _ ** _detail._ **

“What.”

_ I can remember what she looks like.  _ Is he hysterical? Probably.  _ She’s small and has bangs with brown hair and brown eyes. _

“That’s great!” Delores said, catching onto his enthusiasm, “What changed?”

_ What do you mean?”  _ he asked, his adrenaline from remembering something disappearing.

“What’s different?” She asked him, “Why haven’t you been able to remember this before?”

He racked his foggy memory, trying to piece together what made this mission different from all the others. There was the diversion to the hospital which had taken a couple of days off their timeline, adding about a week of travel, there was the odd familiar looking man at the hospital who’d stared him down like a starving animal, there was the fact that he’d remembered the details of the face of some girl in his dreams and that he’d been feeling more woozy than normal.

_ I can’t think of anything,  _ He admitted to Delores, who scoffed,  _ What do you know what I’m missing? _

Delores considered that and then gave in, “No idea.”

“HEY EPSILON!” shouted a voice from across the way. With a flinch at the mention of his own name, he turned in a daze to see Delta jamming a small pad at him. The check-in pad to be exact, the pad used to send signals back to the Aeternalis and Alpha.

_ Huh, that’s weird _ , he thought to himself,  _ I almost forgot about this thing all together. _

“You did forget,” Delores said with annoyance, “You just don’t want to admit it.”

_ Shut up. _

He raised the pad, ready to click the “Start’ button when Delores gasped, “Stop!”

He did stop, always doing what Delores told him to, instead shooting her a confused look. His confusion morphed into something else however with her next words, “You haven’t talked to Alpha in a week.”

_ What does that have to do with anything?  _ He asked, turning his attention away from her and back to the pad. He just needed to call Alpha and do a quick check-in, then it would be ok.

“Alpha always talks to you every two or more days,” Delores admonished him, “It’s always like that.”

_ And when would you have the chance to notice that?  _ He teased her, but realized how serious her face looked, eventually dropping the pad to his side.  _ Why are you so-? _

His lecture to Delores is interrupted as Delta swiped the pad away from him, “I just need to give this to Kappa and then, we’re all set.” He tried to protest, reaching his hand out to take it back from her. He just needed to check-in with Alpha. Delta shoved him away, “You don’t get to talk to Alpha longer than the rest of us, just because she likes you. Piss off.”

He opened his mouth to tell her that he hadn’t spoken to Alpha yet, but all that came out was an odd croaking noise causing him to teleport backwards startled.

“What was that?” Delores asked him, amused, “You sounded like a dying frog.”

But he’s too busy staring at his hands like they had just made the sound,  _ I’ve never been able to make any noise before. I don’t… Alpha said… I’ve never. _

“I think I just figured it out,” Delores said, breaking his ramblings. He looked at her, desperate for some sort of explanation, any sort that would explain what’s going on. 

“It’s Alpha.”

_ What. _

“Alpha’s stopping you from remembering things.”

_ Why would she do that? Alpha’s one of the only people who is nice to me. She wouldn’t.  _ Although he knew that denying it would make him look more stupid, his brain simply can’t latch onto the idea the Alpha could be lying, She’s too nice.

“You wanna know what I think?” Delores said sincerely. Nodding, he turned around to face her.

“I think she’s trying to restrain you. Keep you close to her. And I’ll bet everything I own that it has something to do with those six kids you see in your dreams.”

_ Want to know what I think,  _ he’s quiet, comprehending what he’s just uncovered. “What?” Delores asked curiously,  _ I think you’re right. _

_ And I think I’m going to stop talking to her. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: The Academy learns some things.. and goes back to their base


	16. breathe in, breathe out, let the human in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cage me like an animal  
A crown with gems and gold  
Eat me like a cannibal  
Chase the neon throne
> 
> -Human, Of Monsters and Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my friend convinced me to leave my house today for a couple of hours, I ended up with a massive sunburn.
> 
> School starts in two days for me and I forgot about that...
> 
> oops?

It took a long while for the entire Hargreeves family to get into the space base. Granted they only had one space suit between all six of them and Luther would have to take breaks before running the suit back and forth since his secondary powers would wear out. He had even managed to lug both Ben and his wheelchair to the entrance of the base at the same time, resulting in a round of applause from Klaus. 

When they were finally all piled into the base, the first thing that they did was look around, because who wouldn’t? It was an enemy base, after all. 

The base was honestly pretty boring, there were no decorations or murals, Not even the interesting kinds where the depiction was of the Aeternalis destroying the Alliance in brutally hilarious caricatures. Diego ran his hands down the depressingly gray walls, moving the dust around with his finger.

“Hey it’s a perfect home for Vanya,” Klaus said from where he was, staring intently at the opposing wall, “Simple and sad.”

“Are you calling me simple?” Vanya’s voice rose a bit in anger and Klaus shook his head, “I’m calling your aesthetic simple and sad. Not you, there’s a difference.”

Vanya turned away back to the door that she was looking at, the stress in her shoulders showing that she was still a bit miffed.

Allison chimed in from next to Vanya, “Have some tact, Klaus.”

Diego snorted, “Klaus? Tact?”

“I can have tact if I want to,” protested Klaus, “I just think that-”

“I found it!” Ben shouted from down another hallway, catching all of their attention. They rushed towards him with a mob mentality, all determined to be the first one there. Eventually, they all found Ben calmly sitting in his wheelchair in a room of screens. There were screens covering every wall and even the ceiling, almost like some odd torture chamber of sorts. The room was a lot bigger than one would expect for a room made entirely out of screens, capable of holding a lot of people inside.

“Whoa,” Klaus murmured, eyes wide as he took in the screens, “What do you think this was for?”

“Not sure yet,” Ben said giddily, “But we’re probably the first Alliance members to ever see something like this, so I’m simply taking this win.”

“There’s some cracks in this one,” Vanya observed pointing at a screen in the corner, “Wonder if that means anything?”

“Probably does,” Klaus said seriously, earlier clash with Vanya forgotten, “One thing I’ve learned when talking to dead guys is that everything is important.”

“How could you have learned that from dead guys?” Allison asked him with genuine curiosity. 

Klaus shrugged a shoulder, “Dead people are the most tenacious people ever. But every detail they remember are important ones. After death, all the little stupid things like what they had for a snack before they died go away and they only remember enough to shape them as an illusion of a person, but never a complete one.”

The entire Academy stared at him as he finished his explanation with nonchalance. Luther shifted his weight awkwardly, “I didn’t realize it was like that.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Klaus said bitterly, eyes on the cracks in the screen, “No one ever does.”

They all turned back to Ben, trying to ignore the one shared thought in the middle of the room,  _ If all ghosts are illusions of people, Why do you want to see Dave’s? _

Ben, already aware of Klaus’s struggles, reached out for the control pad in front of him, powering on the one giant screen in the middle. It flared to life, brightening the entire room with it’s light. The first thing that popped up on the screen was a small bar labelled ‘search.’

“Uhhh,” Ben said, “What do I search for? I didn’t think this far ahead.”

“Did you have any plan going into this?” asked Allison sarcastically, which Ben scoffed at, “Of course I did!”

He pulled out a small flash drive with a flourish, “I was simply going to download the entire thing onto this one flashdrive and then sort through it later.”

“So we all came up here for nothing,” Diego said sarcastically as Ben pushed the flash drive into the console. Ben shook his head, “While this is downloading,” He clicked a couple of buttons, starting the download, “We can still browse their databases.”

“Hmm,” Allison plopped down onto the floor, “We should look up ourselves.”

“Why would we do that?” Ben asked, while simultaneously typing in ‘Hargreeves.’

“To see what they know about us.” shrugged Allison, “I think it would be important to know.”

The results began to show through the screen, the first one reading, ‘ _ Mission 104: Grace Hargreeves.’ _

“Mom?” Diego asked, squinting at the screen, “Why would she be on here? Not many people even know she exists.”

“Not sure,” Ben said softly, “But we’re gonna find out.” With a sharp click, the file was opened.

There was a photo of Grace there, albeit blurry and not well-taken, along with several stats on her, such as her hair color, eye color, which was listed as ‘mood-changing’ and where her current location was. But the thing that scared them the most about this file was the words underneath the category, “Type of Mission.”

Termination.

“Termination?” Luther echoed, “What does that mean?”

“I think it means exactly what it sounds like, big guy,” Klaus supplied helpfully. Diego stormed over to where Ben was sitting, full of fury, “What else does it say?”

“Uhh,” Ben scrolled downwards a bit, checking the words and numbers for some sort of clue, “Here!”

He pointed to a date written near the mission type labelled, “Date of Expected Completion.” 

“That’s in three days,” Diego said distantly, “They’re going to kill Mom.”

“We have to get back,” Allison said her voice dripping with fury, “We have to stop them.”

“We need to go now,” Diego snarled, spinning towards the door and making an attempt to leave. He’s stopped by the massive arm of Luther, “Calm down, Diego. We should be getting as much information as possible before we rush into things.”

“He’s right, Diego,” Vanya said from her corner, “If they’re going after Mom, we should be very well-informed on everything.”

During all of this discussion, Ben had continued looking at the file, trying to pick apart the little details and implications. During his search, he came across something that made his heart sink.

“Guys.”

They all looked at him as he highlighted something on the screen, the names of the assassins in charge of killing her.

And coated in blue highlight are the names Kappa, Delta and Epsilon.

“Epsilon,” Klaus breathed, his breath heavy, “They’re going to try and kill Mom.”

“And this person is significant, how?” asked Diego, glancing between Ben’s nervous face and the emotionless mask Klaus was wearing.

Ben opened his mouth to answer, but Klaus swiped his hand through the air with a whistle, “That asshole was the guy who shot Dave. That bastard killed him!” He paused, chest heaving, “And I’m going to kill them for it.”

The entire Academy stared at Klaus, shock and horror in all of their faces. Klaus snarled and whipped around to stare at Ben, “Tell me everything you can find about Epsilon, right now.”

Ben, not willing to get in the way of Klaus’ fury, typed in Epsilon’s name, clicking on the first file that popped up. Epsilon’s file.

Klaus stared at it, like he’d just discovered nirvana or something that had been deemed impossible years beforehand, “I can’t believe it. All this right at my fingertips. Ben..”

Ben, understanding what Klaus was getting at, cleared his throat, “Umm. Epsilon is a guy, first off. His real name isn’t listed, but..”

He paused, licking his lips as he read the impossible numbers underneath that. “What is it?” Klaus said, in the middle of his vengeance-filled rampage.

Ben’s voice was almost non-existent when he murmured the next words, “He’s thirteen.”

If the silence when uncovering the plot to kill Grace was silent, then this was the void of sound. The Academy members were absolutely dumbfounded, even Klaus, who flapped his mouth open and shut like a dying fish as he gaped at the numbers.

“Oh.” Allison finally said what they are all thinking, “Oh my- he’s young.”

“Mind control,” Ben said stupidly, “They don’t care, do they?”

Vanya stared at the numbers underneath Epsilon’s name, “That’s horrible.”

“We did that,” Diego interjected, causing the others to glance at him, “We were fighting at that age.”

“But we at least had free will,” Allison said, “We could have run away if we wanted to,” She shot a glance at Vanya, the Academy member known for running away, “I don’t think he even knows what he’s doing.”

Ben nodded, “It says here that he has severe memory problems and is prone to forgetfulness.”

“Jeez,” Vanya said, “That’s heavy.”

The Academy turned to look at Klaus, who had gone pale and looked to be on the verge of throwing up. Eventually he noticed them all staring at him and schooled his expression into one more suited to someone hellbent on revenge, “Well. I don’t care. He still took Dave.” Although his body stood straight and determined, ready to take revenge, his face gave him away. He looked positively sick to his stomach.

“Look,” Ben said, “It says here that he was ‘assimilated’ into the Aeternalis.”

“Orghhh,” Vanya shivered, “Hate that.”

“I also hate that,” Allison agreed.

Diego who had remained largely silent for a while, spoke up, “We still need to stop him from killing Mom. It doesn’t matter who he is or who he was, he’s still going to kill Mom if we don’t stop him.”

“He’s right,” Klaus said, grateful for the distraction, “We still need to go back and save Mom.”

They all nodded in agreement, ready to head out and save their mother, when a small sound echoed around the chamber, causing them all to jump.

“The download is done,” Ben said, moving over to pull the flash drive out of the computer, “We should get back as soon as possible if we’re going to save Mom and stop those assassins.”

“I’m not letting another assassin kill another member of my family,” Klaus said, his voice quite dark, “We should get back now.”

“Seriously?” Luther sighed, “It took two days of me driving a spaceship to get up here, now we’re going back? After what, five minutes?”

Diego snorted hard and Allison shook her head in sympathy, “We would stay longer, but-”

“No, no,” He agreed with a wave of his hand, “I know why, I’m just-” He stretched one of arms with a groan, “Stiff.”

“I can drive,” Diego offered with an arm. Vanya snorted in amusement, “You? We’d probably crash. I bet Klaus could be safer than you with a spaceship.”

Klaus didn’t make a snarky comment, but the corner of his mouth did quirk upwards. Diego sputtered wildly, “I can be safe!”

“Doubt it,” Allison said dryly, beginning to leave the room, “We need to start heading back.”

“Wait,” Luther asked the remaining siblings, “Who’s driving the spaceship?”

“You,” Klaus said passing by him with a shrug, “You’re the leader.”

Vanya followed behind him, only stopping to give Luther a small smile, leaving Ben, Diego and Luther in the room together. Ben cleared his throat, “I’ll look into all the files we downloaded when I can get my hands on a computer.”

“So when we get back?” Diego said crossing his arms over his chest and fixing him with a glower.

“Sure,” said Ben with an eye-roll, “As long as you all keep Mom safe.”

“We aren’t going to let anything happen to her,” Luther filled his voice with all the confidence of a leader, “As long as you do your job, then we can do ours.”

“It used to be mine too,” Ben said, squishing his lips in a pout, “Don’t forget that.”

“How could we?” Diego said with a roll of his eyes, “Come on, Ben. It’ll take awhile to get everyone back into the ship.”

Luther, who had forgotten that they were even supposed to do that, let out a long-suffering moan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Epsilon arrives at the base, ready to carry out his mission. The Alliance prepares for his arrival
> 
> The finale of Part One is upon us!


	17. yours is not to ask why, yours is to do and die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So cruel  
Longing eternally  
Bitter sweet possibilities  
A tiger on the attack  
Ready to leap
> 
> -Professional Killer, KMFDM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting school tomorrow? Why
> 
> I'm also still incredibly bad at pacing, y'all just have to deal

Epsilon, no, not Epsilon _ , Five _ stood on top of a small hill, looking down at the small, quite well hidden base in the trees. The jungle was never silent at night, something he appreciated in the back of his head, but not here, not now.

Five was going to leave.

He had made his decision almost two hours ago when he woke up with tears streaming down his face and the names of his siblings,  _ his siblings,  _ (He had siblings!) on his tongue. Delores, although a bit apprehensive, had finally relented when he sat her down and whispered things he’d never remembered until he’d stopped talking to Alpha.

She’d been asking for him. Actually, no. Her exact words that had been relayed to him by Kappa were that she “wanted to see him.” His head was still foggy, but the fog had begun to lift, giving him access to things he had never been able to recall before, such as the way Alpha’s eyes looked.

They were ice-cold, penetrating and seemed to swirl. He’d crumpled down to the floor every time they met his, legs going weak and then the all too familiar fog had been shoved down his ears and into his head.

Delores was right, it was Alpha. He felt stupid for trusting her. He felt stupid in general. How could he have let this happen to him? 

Well, it wasn’t going to happen ever again, he’d decided, staring down at the Alliance base below him. Delores by his side, complained that she’d heard that the Alliance were all too sentimental and he’d laughed,  _ I’d like a little sentiment right now. _

He wondered where his siblings were. He wondered if his time in the ice boxes had impacted their age difference, he wasn’t sure how long he’d been on ice.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if they were all old people?” Delores snickered, “And you’re, what? Thirteen?”

_ That wouldn’t be funny at all,  _ He protested trying to imagine them as old people,  _ That would just be sad.  _

“But also funny,” Delores insisted with laughter, “I mean, you were on ice for a long time.”

_ Alpha told me I had to,  _ He grumbled, ignoring the blistering pain that had started in his head again,  _ She said it was necessary, so she didn’t have to worry where I was. _

“Which is incredibly shady of her,” said Delores with glee, “And you should’ve noticed that.”

_ So you’ve said. _

“Hmmm.” Delores hummed, not interested in talking anymore.

Five shook his head in amusement and went back to staring at the base. The mask that was pressed against his mouth and nose was itchy and honestly, awful. He couldn’t breathe, if he was honest. How the hell had he functioned for so long in this thing? 

_ This is it,  _ he thought to himself,  _ This is it. I’m going to escape. _

_ I’m going home. _

* * *

Inside the base was utter panic, Vanya noted, dodging people that ran back and forth. Alarms were going off, sounding back and forth, making her powers go crazy. Her head pounded, the vibrations bounced off of every wall. Her hands pressed against her ears and she fell into a curl on the floor.

Feet ran by her, pounding down the long halls of the base and she realized that she should probably get up off the floor and at least try and help.

They had no idea where the three assassins that were coming to kill Mom would be coming from, so the Academy members had split up, ready to patrol the halls, waiting for one of them to show up. Vanya had given herself time to brace for the impact.

She hoped she would get Epsilon in her areas.

When she was in that base, learning about Epsilon’s age and the factors of mind control, she’d felt sick to her stomach. This was the kind of stuff Five had been killed for. This was what the Aeternalis wanted from him. She was almost happy that he wasn’t suffering like Epsilon or any of the thousands of others. 

Her body absorbed some of the faint light coming down from the lights above her and she shifted her skin so that she was invisible. It would make it easier to subdue whoever came her way if she couldn’t be seen, something that she’d learned after years of experience. 

Quickly, she shoved some earplugs in her ears, trying to blot out the noises of all the people around her. She truly hated her powers sometimes, they made everything so  **loud.**

She could hear Klaus above her, pacing back and forth and muttering to himself. In her head she could picture his face with his wide green eyes and dazy expression that had always been endearing to her. She hadn’t seen it in a while, ever since Dave had died, but when they’d gotten the age of Dave’s killer, just for a moment, she’d seen it again.

It was nice to know he could still pull at her heartstrings like that.

With a sharp tug in her stomach, she strained her ears for the beating of Mom’s heart, grinning when she could hear her still sitting calmly in the infirmary, protected by Luther, who’d insisted on the job, at the protest of Diego.

She knew Diego well, and sitting patiently for a group of assassins to kill his mother wasn’t his style. He’d get fed up and nervous and then go after the assassins himself, leaving their mother vulnerable to attack. It was a smart move on Luther’s part, though she suspected that it was actually Allison’s idea.

She’d always been observant like that.

Vanya hadn’t actually spoken to Allison in years, just one on one. And they were the  _ sisters.  _ The only two girls in the Academy, but she’d always been friends with Ben and Five more than her sister four ranks above her. Five had always said stupid things like, “The lower numbers should stick together.” He’d been their de-facto leader, the only one of the lower numbers who could speak to Luther and not get immediately dismissed.

But Allison had always had two main friends, Luther and Klaus. She’d spent hours with both of them. And if Vanya was honest, she’d been too intimidated by the higher numbers to even try and talk to them.

She supposed that was just a her thing though.

She was so caught up in thoughts that she missed the slight sound of a vent being moved to the side and the slight thump of flesh on metal.

* * *

_ You’ve got to be kidding me,  _ was the expression on his face as he stared at the hole on top of the base.

Although he couldn’t see Delta’s face, he could imagine a smirk on her face, “You’re going to climb in there and open the front door for us, Epsilon.”

Not Epsilon, he wanted to correct her, Five. But for all he tried, his vocal chords still eluded him, although he could make little sounds now. How long had he been in Alpha’s grasp for his voice to be that bad?

As he turned that thought over in his mind, Delta continued, “We all need to be there, because- I’m going to be honest with you- I don’t trust you at all pipsqueak. You’ve been ignoring  _ Alpha.  _ “

_ Because she ruined my life,  _ he tried to force out, but the only thing that came out was an indigent grunt. Delta scoffed harshly, “Yea, I’m onto you, asshole. So here’s the plan.” She reached down and took his face in her hands, forcing him to look up at her, “You are going to crawl through this vent, until you see the front door,” Her thumb is jabbed in the direction of the front door, “You are going to open it for us, and then we are going to slaughter this entire base.”

_ That’s not what we are supposed to do,  _ he wanted to say,  _ If anyone’s disobeying Alpha,it’s you. _

But he’d learned that it’s better to always agree with Delta, so he forced himself to nod. He could always just- not open the door for them.

“And if you get any funny ideas,” Delta’s voice is deadly low, dangerous, “We’ll be waiting at the front door, and if you don’t open it in ten minutes, we’ll blow up this entire base with you inside it.”

Five stared at her, mind racing. Delores is silent in his ear, but he can hear her nervous inhale at Delta’s threat.

With all that in mind, there’s really only one word that encapsulates this entire situation.

Fuck.

With that, he climbed into the vent, with Delta and Kappa watching him, one filled with nerves and the other with satisfaction.

Five realized that he was claustrophobic the second he was dropped into the vent with no way to clamber back out other than using his powers. The small space is just way too close and he  _ hated  _ being touched and this is officially the worst thing he’s ever had to do ever.

_ Wish I still didn’t know what was happening around me so I could get this done,  _ he told Delores, still stuffed into his pocket. Like the goddess she is, she replied, “We can always just fight the walls.”

_ That’s a terrible idea. _

“What are we going to do about the bombs that Delta’s going to drop if we don’t open this door?” Delores said, getting straight to the heart of his problems. He loved her for that, even if it’s not exactly helpful right now.

_ I just need to find someone who looks like they run this place, and tell them what’s going to happen,  _ He decided, looking through a shaft to check for people in the hallway. There’s no one there, so he pushed his powers out, appearing on the floor.

Delores rolled her eyes like he’s an idiot, “You can’t talk.” 

_ Oh,  _ he hadn't thought of that,  _ That’s a problem. _

“Yep.” She agreed with a smirk, “But there’s a notebook in your bag. So..”

_ You should’ve said that earlier. _

Grumbling to himself, he pulled the small notebook and pen out of his bag, quickly scribbling down as much as he could.

“Base being bombed in 10 minutes. Get out.”

_ Perfect,  _ He said, holding up the note to the sky, staring at the words he’d scribbled down.

“It’s probably nine minutes now,” Delores said flatly, as he put his bag back on his back, ready to find someone that looked authoritative, “And you should probably take off all your Aeternalis gear if you want them to trust you.”

_ Oh, that’s a good id- _

His thoughts are interrupted by the massive pain on the back of his head, sending him spiraling down into unconsciousness.  _ Shit, wait… no… _

The last thing he saw before blacking out is a pair of black boots running over to him, their soles mud-covered and scratched and a thick metal pole rolling around, like it had been thrown at him.

Five sighed in relief, before fading away.

* * *

The first thing Diego thought before throwing at pole at some shape in the darkness was, “Oh shit, what if I just knocked out someone important?”

He scurried over to the collapsed body on the tile floor, freezing when he saw what it was. One of the assassins, Epsilon to be exact, judging from the general smallness of the form on the floor and the E imprinted on the ridiculous-looking costume.

There’s a piece of paper near Epsilon’s hand and Diego picked it up, curiosity getting the better of him. His heart stopped when he realized what it read,“Base being bombed in 10 minutes. Get out.”

“Fuck,” He said aloud, mind racing as he glanced back and forth between the kid and the note. The kid’s sprawled out on the floor, the mask he was wearing broken from the impact of both the pole and the floor. Diego reached down and pulled the mask off of him, deciding that the glass could cut him if he’s not careful.

Who he saw there made his heart stop for the second time.

“Five?”

It’s definitely Five, he realized, staring at his brother in absolute horror, he’d recognize that face anywhere. And Five is wearing an Aeternalis outfit, Five is wearing the symbol of an Aeternalis assassin, Five’s been under mind-control this whole time.

Five killed Dave. Because Epsilon did and Five is Epsilon.

It’s enough to make his head hurt. 

But Diego is nothing but a good sibling and as soon as Five showed his stupid face back here, Diego knew it was ride or die. And he’d rather ride this craze train until he burned. So he picked up the note and re-read it, making sure he’d committed it to memory, before grabbing his much-smaller brother and slinging him onto his back in a piggyback ride.

He’s grateful that Five’s so small right now, because he doesn’t actually weigh that much. Though that’s a whole other can of worms he’d want to unpack, why Five was still thirteen. But Diego knew that he doesn’t have time for any of that right now.

He ran towards the loudspeaker rooms, instead, determined to get everyone out of this alive.

Including his apparent, tiny assassin brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine you're working at this base and a man clothed in leather runs past you with an unconscious child on his back. That's probably how everyone feels
> 
> Next Time: The Academy make their daring escape. Five is unconscious (Thanks Diego!)


	18. i've got a picture perfect plan but i can't go in alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, I can't help my ways  
It don't make such sense to me  
All these cold and rainy days  
Maybe we're meant to be alone
> 
> -Maybe We're Meant to Be Alone, Bad Suns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel super bad cause I've just been super busy but I'm actually moving into a new house rn so that's why this took so long.
> 
> I'm not proud of this chapter

It all felt like it’s happening too fast, he has ten minutes. Ten minutes to stop an entire building from collapsing, ten minutes to get an entire population out of the base and into safety, ten minutes to save his siblings from death by suffocation or blood loss or, so many other things.

There’s not a lot you can do in ten minutes. Diego knew that, but dammit he’s going to try to get them all done. For Luther and Allison and Klaus and Ben and Vanya. For Five who he’s currently carrying on his back as he raced down the halls towards the infirmary, where he knew Mom was, protected by Ben and Luther. Originally, he’d headed towards the loudspeaker rooms before realizing that announcing that the entire base was about to blow up would cause a  _ literal riot  _ and then, Five had started making incredibly concerning wheezing noises so he’d taken priority.

He shouldn’t be shocked that his brother is alive, but it’s honestly the most absurd thing to happen to him in a couple of days. Since his father died actually, because somehow, someone like Reginald dying is more impossible than someone like Five living. 

For a moment, he wondered what had happened to Five since he hadn’t exactly looked like the peak of health during the moment Diego had glimpsed him on the floor. In fact he’d looked pretty awful, even to someone like Diego, who had no medical training whatsoever.

Then he cursed every living being in existence because his brother that’s currently choking on every breath on his back was Epsilon, and Diego had been there when they read the documents on Epsilon. That he had memory problems and was generally known for a lack of cohesion and Diego wanted to find whoever had forced Five into this and shove a knife down their throat.

He spotted the sign to the infirmary and pushed enough of his last remaining energy into his legs for one final desperate dash to the door, and Ben - thank the heavenly figures above for Ben- opened the door for him. He skidded to a halt, practically collapsing on the spot in front of his mom with a startled-looking Luther at her shoulder. Using all the force he has, he flipped Five’s loose-limbed lanky body over his shoulder, spilling him onto the cot in front of Luther and Mom.

He took in Luther’s dumbfounded face for one second before Mom let out a soft ‘tutting’ noise, “Oh Five.You’re really in a pickle now.”

He turned at the sound of Ben’s shocked whisper, “Five?” His brother’s face is drained of all color and in one second, Diego remembered Ben had found Five’s ‘body.’ He allowed himself a moment of sympathy for Ben and then turned to Luther, holding out Five’s note.

“This entire base is going to go in ten minutes,” He said flatly as Luther took the note in his hand, scanning over it with his eyes before looking back to Diego, a question on the tip of his lips. Diego answered with a gesture towards Five’s body, “He had it.”

And Luther’s normally soft eyes harden and he doesn’t hesitate before speaking, “Diego, go find Klaus and tell him to start evacuating people, He should be upstairs. I’ll go find Vanya and Allison and do the same. Mom,” She looked up from where she’s leaning over Five, her hand pressed gently on his neck, “Get Five to the biggest ship you can.” There’s only a small trip over Five’s name, “Ben, go with them and get the ship ready for takeoff. We can’t lose anyone, or-”

He doesn’t finish and he doesn’t need to. Ben’s already practically salivating over Five and Mom’s calmly collecting medicine, both of them nod in acknowledgement and Diego knew he had no time to lose, he spun on his heel and rushed towards the stairs, ready to find Klaus.

He found him in a long corrider, floating on his back with his stupid Hawaiian shirt drifting in the supernatural breeze and massive dorky sunglasses on his face.

“Klaus!”

“Yes dearest?” Klaus said, spinning around, looking at Diego over his glasses, “Oh you don’t look so good, Dee.”

“I need you to help me get people out of this building,” Diego gasped out, “It’s gonna blow.”

“Oh,” Klaus said, oddly calm about it, “Why is that?”

“I don’t know but one of the assassins,” Diego paused, not sure how to break the news to his brother.Five killed Dave. Five is Epsilon. Five is under their protection now, “defected. He told us that the building is going down.”

“Which one?” Klaus said his tone casual, but Diego can sense the caution in his tone.

“Epsilon.”

Klaus’ face, which had remained casually open during the conversation, dropped into a dark territory. His voice remained low as he asked his next question, “Where is he?”

“He’s with Mom. But, Klaus.”

“What.”

“Klaus,” Diego reaches for his brother’s shoulders wanting to brace him for the news, Klaus complied, floating down to allow Diego to grasp him, “Klaus, He’s Five.”

“What?” Klaus is blank, open and confused. Diego shook his head, “Epsilon is… He’s Five, Klaus.”

And it all came spilling out, “And I knocked him unconscious and then I saw his face and God, Klaus, he’s still thirteen. He’s so small and light, I could barely feel him. And-“

Klaus interrupted him with a wave of his “Goodbye” hand, “Dee, calm down.”

“I can’t,” Diego finally broke down, his voice swimming with so many emotions he couldn’t put a name to them all, “I can’t because it’s Five and we never even looked for him. We just took what Dad said at face value and.”

“Stop,” Klaus met Diego’s emotional stare, “I…” There’s a pause where neither of them move or even breathe, “We can deal with this later. We need to evacuate the building.”

Diego blinked, absolutely floored by Klaus’ response, “Yea. yea. Ok. Ok.”

“Good,” Klaus tried to smile, but it’s so forced it ended up as more of a cringe, “Good, let’s go.”

The two of them turn to the nearest door as though their in a fever dream. This can’t be real. This can’t be. 

It can’t be.

* * *

Ben’s in shock. That’s really the best word to describe everything he’s feeling right now. The shock hasn’t worn off yet though, which is helpful, because he’s currently helping his mom cart the body of his presumed dead little brother into a ship and if it wore off now, Ben would most likely fall to the floor and scream for multiple hours in a row.

Five made a weird whining noise from his cart and all Ben can do is awkwardly pet his brother’s hair and said words of kindness because he’s trapped in the most bizarre dream of his life and any minute now, he’s going to wake up and Five’s going to be dead and he’ll bawl his eyes out for the millionth time.

Until he hit his arm on a pole as they were walking Five’s cot through the hall. The sharp burst of pain is not long-lived and Mom’s gentle question of “Are you hurt?” even shorter, but it’s enough to convince Ben that this is reality and his brother was really there. 

He looked at Five, who was gently curled up on the cot, making quick, shaky rattles as he fought for air. Mom’s hand is caressing through his dark, tangled and most likely sweaty hair. And Ben, not sure what to do in the absolute maximum of his panic, took his brother’s hand.

They managed to find a massive ship, named the “Icarus.” And Mom and Ben took it over, shoving Five into the door, and setting him down in the glistening white infirmary,

“Ben,” Mom said as she began to set things up around Five, “Go get the ship started for  your siblings.”

Numbly, he nodded, spinning his wheelchair around, ready to head for the control board, but paused to stare at Mom and Five.

It’s almost amazing how quick his entire world had been destroyed and rebuilt in the single moment Diego had run in. And now, they were all on the cliff, dangling dangerously over the edge of it all, one small slip could rip the scales and send all of them tumbling over the edge. 

But right here, right now before the scales were thrown out of balance, The Academy has it all. 

They have a brother, long thought dead, alive again, they have a getaway plan, their mom is here and breathing. Sure the terrific amount of trauma that will come out of this is about to smack them all in the face, but right now, they’re all alive, they’re all  _ here.  _

Even if Five’s memory is foggy, Even if he’s not mentally there and even if he hurts them or himself, they’re all  _ here.  _

And honestly, that’s the best they’ve had in almost seventeen years.

* * *

He’s been trained to be the leader ever since he was a little boy. His father had integrated every lesson into his skull so much that Luther could quote every single one, word for word. A leader must take priority of the people over the minority, a leader must account for all members of his team and make sure that they are all on task, a leader cannot show weakness or affection for his team because at any moment, one of them could be replaced.

The amount of times Luther had allowed himself to show weakness to his siblings can be counted on his fingers.

Exactly six times. Two of them he doesn’t remember, only the warm rush that came with it. One was when he’d broken Klaus’ nightlight, causing his brother to break down in tears. They’d been four at the time, so Luther had simply tried to glue the thing back together, only to cut his hands open and start bawling.

He’d eventually bribed Five into stealing another nightlight for him, but when he was older he’d begun to suspect that Five had did it out of the goodness of his heart and not the stuffed bunny plush toy Luther had ‘bribed’ him with.

He hadn’t been the smartest kid on the planet.

But, he liked to think he was a bit smarter now, and now in this present moment as he raced to find his sisters, he had an issue.

Should he tell them that Five was ok? 

Luther weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

Pros, both of them will be happier and more positive. Reginald’s voice echoed in his head, “ _ If they are happy then they will be more likely to agree with everything you say.” _

Cons, they will be too over emotional which could hinder their performance. Another voice echoed in his head, similar to the first but with more bite, “ _ Emotional connections are what makes us human, but it’s also what makes us weak. Weakness is not something you should be capable of as my Academy. You need to be better than human.” _

Fuck, Dad made a good point. In both of his hallucinated flashbacks. Now, instead of wondering what Dad would do. Luther has to decide what  _ he  _ will do.

He doesn’t know what he should say and he can see Allison’s wavy curls a couple feet in front of him, “Allison!”

She turned, her eyes widening with bewilderment, “Luther? What are you doing here? Aren’t we supposed to be looking for the assassins?”

“New plan,” he blurted, “This entire base is going to blow up in about seven minutes now, get people out as fast as possible.”

To her credit, Allison took the entire thing he chucked at her in stride, only giving him a nod before taking off towards the nearest door. He watched her go, Five’s situation on the tip of his tongue. He moved away from her, confident that she could handle the situation by himself, and left her to go find Vanya.

He found her scanning the halls with determination, her eyes glowing softly white with the energy of her powers and he stopped moving, trying to figure out how to beat approach this situation, eventually deciding that the best solution was to just tell her what was happening, but not the whole truth.

“Vanya!” Luther called as she turned towards the sound of his voice. Her glowing white eyed faded away when she noticed that it was him, “Luther.” she returned with an incline of her head.

“We need to start evacuations,” he told her, sweeping past her to a room on the end of the hall. Luther opened it with a yank, allowing his massive frame to fill the doorway. There are three people inside, dressed in uniform, frozen as a massive man towered over them, “This building is going down, Procede outdoors and get as far away as possible.”

Their eyes widen in horror and they run as fast as they can past him and Vanya, straight for the exit. She watched them go with a confused glance, “What’s this about, Luther?”

Luther spared her a look before heading to the next room,” We captured Epsilon. He told us that the other two will blow up in building in almost five minutes now, we need to get as many people out as possible.”

“Shit,” she cursed before rushing past him to a massive looking safe door. Vanya’s hands shook but she shoved her arms foreword, crumpling the doors down in on themselves.

Luther can’t see how many people are inside but Vanya calmly told them to evacuate, easily using her underwhelming looks to get to them. And he’s proud of her, for taking charge.

“Are there any more people?” he asked her, relying on her intensely good hearing. Vanya cocked her head as though she’s listening to a distant memory, “There’s too many,” she admitted, “Too many to get all of them and ourselves out.”

“Shit,” Luther swore, because if there’s one thing he hated more than anything else in the world, it’s feeling useless. It’s why he left Five with Mom and Ben, they would know what to do.

And he knew deep in the back of his mind that Vanya felt the same way. There’s no way she’s going to let innocent people die. Vanya seemed to make a split second decision before standing tall in the hallway and shouting, “Please evacuate the building immediately! There is no time to grab anything, please just get out!”

He powers snatched up her words and projected them throughout the entire building. Her voice was loud and demanding, making sure that everyone could hear her pleas. 

The response was immediate, people began to make a break for the exits, a stampede of sorts. Luther took Vanya’s hand and pull her close to his massive body just as a group of people surged past them, fighting to escape the death trap their base had become.

Vanya and Luther watched them go with apprehension. 

“Jeez,” scoffed Vanya. Luther can only nod in mute response. Her hand is still in his when she pulled him away and towards the exit, “We should go too, we don’t want to get hurt.”

“Right,” Luther said numbly, allowing Vanya to lead him outside, his only thoughts being about his other siblings, he hoped they were ok.

His legs wobbled to and fro as he allowed Vanya to drag him towards the exits. Luther wasn’t exactly in the most comprehensive mindset right now. By the time, he and Vanya had escaped the building, Luther’s head was fuzzy and he felt way too disoriented to really be much use. 

He and Vanya stood together, still holding hands as they waited for the last remaining people to flow out of the doors. Luther turned his head to stare at Vanya, who’s squinting at the door.

“What are you looking for?” he asked her, slightly confused. She barely spared him a glance with her response, “Our siblings.”

“Oh. Right,” is all he can manage, which sounded incredibly inconsiderate but he can’t function at all anymore. Vanya doesn’t let go of his hand though, which he considered a win.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Klaus and Diego stumbling out of a door and although he’s happy to see them ok and alive, there’s one person missing.

“Where’s Allison?” Luther asked, his desperation leaking into his voice, “Where’s Allison?”

Then he saw her, running towards him. She’s still in the building, his brain registered, she’s still in the building and the building is going down. 

He’s in motion before he realized the situation at hand, charging at his sister full speed because if she doesn’t make it, if she doesn’t make it then, she’s dead.

Lunging with every inch of his body, he tackled Allison to the floor, shielding her with his body. Her breath stuttered in shock as he fell on top of her, pressing all his body weight to the floor because it doesn’t matter if he’s hurt, it only mattered if Allison was.

Three.

Two.

One.

Luther managed to only hear the beginning of Vanya’s shout of desperation before the building came down in a blaze of fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Vanya deals with injured siblings and alive brothers


	19. can we always be this close forever and ever?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is our place, we make the rules  
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear  
Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?  
\- Lover, Taylor Swift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taylor Swift’s new album came out and as a fan of her, I’m stoked!
> 
> I’m also in the middle of a move, so if there’s a drop in quality I apologize! <3

The building fell in slow motion, everything was on fire and Vanya screamed and screamed and screamed because Luther, like the idiot he was, dived into the  _ collapsing  _ building to save Allison.

Soldiers around her stared in absolute terror because if there’s one thing that shouldn’t happen, it’s the Academy getting hurt in front of them. 

Then the rubble shifted, and a mountain began to rise out of the destruction. Vanya, along with the many other people there, gazed in bewilderment as Luther stood up, dust and crumbs falling off his back. He’s covered in ash and Vanya can see a nasty-looking burn across his shoulders, but he seemed relatively ok.

Then he fell over, his massive body weight causing another tremble through the already beaten down earth. Her footsteps unsteady on shaky ground, Vanya made her way over to her brother, leaning down to feel for a pulse. Her hand is joined by another, and she moved her head to meet the other person’s eyes.

It’s Allison, her gaze filled with unshed tears and overflowing emotions. She whispered, her voice hoarse from screaming, “He’s gonna be ok,” before plunging into Vanya’s arms in the tightest hug she’s ever experienced in her life. 

Vanya inhaled her sister’s familiar sugary perfume mixed with ash and rubbed her shoulders, “He’s Luther. He’ll be fine.”

She wished she was sure. 

It’s only after they untangle from each other that Vanya comprehended what just happened. They’d almost lost Luther and Allison in one single sweep from the assassins, even though those two weren’t even their targets in the first place. The building is behind them, a smoking pile of rubble and she spotted Diego picking his way over to them out of the corner of her eye.

“Diego,” She gasped as he approached them, cautiously. Throwing caution to the wind, she wrapped her arms around her typically stoic brother and clung for dear life. His body seized up against her for a brief moment but he relaxed into her, his arms slowly wrangling their way into her hair as he swayed her back and forth. 

Allison hovered nearby like an overprotective mother probably because she was one, before motioning to Diego. She pulled one of Luther’s arms over her shoulders, preparing to carry him over to their mother for treatment.

Pulling away from the hug, Diego softly pressed his forehead against Vanya’s, letting her listen to his heartbeat, something she didn’t know she needed so badly.

“We’ve got this,” He told her quietly in the way only Diego can, “You should go be with Five.”

And she froze, lifting her head from his broad chest to look into his eyes, searching for the lie. 

“F-f-five?”

There’s no small twinkle, no indication he’s lying when he replied with a smile, “Yea, he’s unconscious right now but.”

He doesn’t get to finish before she ran away, straight towards the maw of the ship where her brother is. 

The door opened automatically for her as though it can feel the absolute desperation she’s feeling.

Five. Her brother. That she’d seen dead on the floor, at thirteen years old. The one whose journals she’d read at night, trying to remember Five as he was. He’d still been years ahead of his time, even at thirteen. She’d lost count of how many times she’d cried over the pages he’d written about her, about any of her siblings, really.

The first person she saw when she arrived in the ship was Klaus, He’s pouring himself a drink from the bar, appearance disheveled and the smell of alcohol already flowing from him. There’s dark bags under his eyes and he really looked like he just needed a nap. She wanted to help him or give him a hug, she really did, but she had bigger fish to fry right now.

The infirmary is white, piercingly so. The walls are pristine, and fake-looking. There’s two people in the room, one on the bed and the other is lifting his head as she approached. It’s Ben, his brown eyes teary and his face is the calmest she’s seen since they were kids.

She asked the question with her body, not trusting her voice. All it took was a nod from Ben for her to come rushing towards the bed that he’s sitting next to. 

She set herself down and took a glance at the person in the cot and she lost her breath.

It’s Five, captured in time at age thirteen. His dark hair is covered in sweat and his breath is slightly shaky. His eyes twitch slightly with each breath, his eyelashes quiver. 

Vanya’s hand shook as she reached out to push some of his hair out of his face, and almost burst into tears when she could feel it running through her fingers.

Then she felt something sliding down her cheeks and realized she was crying. Ben’s hand quietly joined hers and his other one gently took her face to meet his.

“I can’t believe it,” she murmured to him, “He’s here and..”

“I know,” Ben chuckled softly, tears dripping off his nose, “I know, Van. We need,” He breathed a bit harshly, trying to get his composure, “We need to help him. He’s.. he was Epsilon.”

“Fuck,” Vanya exhaled, pressing her hand harder into Five’s sweaty palm, “Fuck. No. no.”

“Yea,” Ben nodded, “But we’ll be there for him.”

“Of course,” agreed Vanya without hesitation, “Of course we will.”

* * *

If Dave could see him now, Klaus wasn’t exactly sure what he would say. Which is an odd thing to say since Klaus used to be able to predict what Dave was going to say seconds before the words came out of his stupidly pretty mouth. He’s currently in the middle of drinking away his sorrows at the  _ incredible _ bar on this ship that Mom hijacked.

It’s a great way to avoid the truth, something Klaus excelled at. He’d been doing it ever since he was twelve and had only stopped because Dave. Because everything he had done while with Dave was for Dave. To make it work, to make the man he’d fallen for at a disco, stay with him. 

Klaus had been young and stupid when he’d fallen into the world of drugs and parties. To cope, he’d told himself while deleting concerned messages from his siblings, it’s all to cope. And then, at age 20, he’d met Dave at a small scale disco.

He hadn’t known Dave would be anything more than the average one-night stand.

Boy, had he been in for a surprise. 

Dave had done so much for Klaus, so much more than he could ever possibly know.

Dave dragged him kicking and screaming from the worst places and let him simply bask in the glow of natural light rather than the blacklights and ambulance lights he had grown steadily used too.

And then, Dave was gone. Taken from Klaus’ world by a single shot. Fired from the gun of a mind-controlled teenager who also happened to be Klaus’ brother. 

It would be so easy, so easy to just.. Blame Five for everything, to take his brother out and be done with it, but as Klaus looked over the counter of the bar, he could see Vanya sobbing with joy over Five’s unconscious body, Ben leaning against her with the most genuine smile he’d seen since Dave was alive and Klaus knew it would never be that simple.

Because Five was his brother. 

His little brother, who’d died at age thirteen and come back to them through some kind of fucked-up miracle. At the cost of Dave’s life, Klaus now had a tiny traumatized brother.

The whiskey going down his throat burned in the best way.

He’s a bit drunk right now, he can tell by the blurs at the ends of his vision, but he turned his head as Diego and Allison stumbled in, with Luther in their grasp. A small flare of concern pulsed in his stomach, but he brushed it off almost immediately. This was Luther, their strongman, he’d be fine.

The small group moved to the infirmary where Vanya and Ben were already standing up, ready to help Diego and Allison move Luther. Diego waved them off as Luther practically collapsed onto the cot near Five. 

“Where’s Mom?” choked Allison, trained on the ugly burn on Luther’s back, “We need her, right now.”

Klaus, a bit loopy but curious as to where this was going, sauntered over to the others, whiskey in hand. The Academy gathered around Luther’s bed. 

“Mom’s getting stuff for Five’s throat,” Ben explained missing Allison’s jaw-drop at their dead brother’s name. Vanya nodded from next to him, her hand winded around Five’s pale one. Allison’s face went slack with shock as she followed Vanya’s arm down to Five.

“Five?” She asked, glancing around them for an explanation.

Diego’s fierce glare isn’t directed at anyone as he growled, “He was Epsilon.” Almost all of them shoot Klaus a quick glance, filled with sadness or sympathy. Klaus’ grip on his glass tightened.

He can’t meet Vanya’s eyes as she blinked mournfully up at him. Really he can only focus on Five’s shaky breath and the rise and fall of Luther’s massive chest. 

“What now?” asked Allison, reaching for Five’s forehead, feeling for a temperature, “He’s got a fever.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Vanya insisted, “You guys need to keep working on finding those other two assassins, I’ll stay with Five. If he wakes up, I’ll call you guys.”

“Ok,” Diego’s eyes trailed down Vanya’s arms, reaching Five, “Ok We’ll go and work on that. Mom will be here for Luther in a minute or two.”

“I’ll join you all in a minute,” Allison relented, “I need to bandage these cuts,” there’s a motion towards the slashes in her arms. 

Diego nodded, before turning to Klaus, “Come on. We need to go look for those assassins.” Klaus puffed his lips and drained the rest of his drink, still refusing to look at Five.

“Sure.”

As he followed Diego out the door, he took one glance back toward the infirmary where Vanya was curling up next to Five for reassurance and Mom was beginning to clean Luther’s burns.

He wished things weren’t so complicated for once in his life.

* * *

It’s warm, wherever he is. He’s warm, so warm, that he needed to get away. And with a small breath, Five woke up.

It’s a slow process, his head hurt and he felt like crap to be honest, but there’s hair in his face and in the back of his head he knew who the hair belonged to. His hand moved without him even trying, just touch it and as soon as he does, she’s moving.

Their eyes meet.

“Five,” breathed Vanya, his heart singing as she said his name, “There you are.” Her hand is shaking as she reached for him and he took it with a small smile, trying to force everything he’d ever wanted to say to her, some things he can’t even remember, out of his damaged throat. 

He made an odd choking sound that made him wish he was still unconscious. Vanya’s soft face melted into concern, “Five?”

He shook his head, not sure how he’s supposed to tell her that he  _ can’t speak _ . But the fact that she’s concerned for him is nice. “Hey,” she said, voice gentle like she’s afraid he might break. Five pushed down a small feeling of resentment, he’s not weak.

“Hey, you can talk to me.” Vanya’s so close now, “I missed you, Five. I thought you were dead. I-.” she trailed off but Five stared at her blearily. 

_ You thought I was dead?  _ he asked in his head and Delores laughed at him, “She can’t hear you, dipshit.”

_ Right. _

He made a gesture towards his throat wondering if Vanya would get the message. Thankfully she did, reaching beyond her to grab a small cup of something warm.

He took it carefully, curling around the blankets. Vanya adjusted herself so that she’s facing him, “Five?”

Five took a sip of the drink, wrinkling his nose at how hot it was. Vanya waited patiently for him to finish before asking him again, “You’re ok, Five. You’ll never been near those people again. I promise.”

It’s sweet of her to say that, but he knew better. Alpha was going to be beyond pissed that he’d escaped, and there was the tracker to think about…

The tracker, Five realized with a start,  _ There’s a tracker in my arm. _

He moved as quickly as he could, jumping away from Vanya and landing next to the counter. Vanya shouted as she tried to grab at the space where he’d just been, turning around just in time to see him plunge a surgery knife into his arm.

“Five!” she screamed, flinging herself at him. The knife is tangled in their grasp as they play a dangerous game with it for a second before Five can feel the handle again. Wrenching his hand away from Vanya, he dug the knife into his arm again. The tracker let out a pathetic beep as he pulled it out, falling onto his back as he lifted it above his head in triumph.

Vanya blinked at it, her body wrapped around him as she realized what the tracker was, “Oh.”

He’s panting but there’s a small smile on his face as he met her eyes. Vanya exhaled, “Don't ever do that again.”

He nodded, still slightly winded, lowering his bloody arm. Vanya let out a small huff, “Let me patch you up.”

Five smiled at her.

It’s only when he’s seated back on the bed does he see the people next to him. A big man lay on the cot next to him, and a familiar woman was rubbing an ointment on his back. It’s Grace Hargreeves, he realized with a sharp inhale, his mother and the woman he was supposed to kill.

She smiled softly, “Hello Number Five, it’s good to see you again.”

He can’t speak, but he gave her a soft smile. His gaze turned to the other man and eventually, he realized that it’s Number One, Luther. Five shifted to look at the injuries, but then he felt Vanya’s soft hands on his.

“Hey Five,” she said, “C-c-can you talk?”

“Congrats, your sister finally became smart,” Delores muttered saltly from where she’s perched. He rolled his eyes as her before turning to Vanya with a head shake.

“Oh,” Vanya’s voice is meeker than it had been before, “Uh..” She looked back and forth from something, eventually handing him a small notepad. Scrawled in his own handwriting on the front page are the words,  “Base being bombed in 10 minutes. Get out.”

Oh.  _ Oh. _

That’s why Luther was hurt, wasn’t it? In his haze, he’s almost forgotten about Delta’s threat.

“Hey, hey,” Vanya must’ve seen his expression flicker, “It’s not your fault, Five.” Her arms lift up hesitantly, as though she wasn’t sure what he would want.

Five took to opportunity to throw himself into her grasp and bury his face in her shirt. He let the small “oh” of surprise she let out flood through him and then the two of them stayed like that, hugging each other to the death. A reunion neither of them ever thought possible.

Five isn’t crying.

Vanya isn’t either.

They’re both liars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: The Hargreeves have a family dinner. Five gets interrogated


	20. i don't know why you love me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And after all this  
This love I borrowed  
I'm waiting on the day  
You don't want me tomorrow
> 
> -Danger to Myself, The Unlikely Candidates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story has updated super fast in the past and i'm kinda sad to admit that after 20 chapters, i'm forced to admit that the fast updating schedule isn't healthy for me.
> 
> So, I'm setting up an official update schedule which means that this story will update every 4 days!
> 
> Sorry if it bothers anyone but its necessary! 
> 
> (I say this as I begin another TUA short story in my drafts, i hate myself)

In the Hargreeves household, there was only one sound that would rouse every member from whatever they were doing and cause them to come running from every direction, all spilling into the one room where they never had to train in, the one room where the trauma didn’t overwhelm them.

The kitchen. 

The sound of the dinner bell always brought every Hargreeves into the room, because missing dinner meant going hungry and no one really wanted that.

Four hours after the explosion of the base, the Academy gathered in the kitchen at the sound of the dinner bell once again.

Luther sat in Dad’s place at the head of the table, his arms crossed over his head as he pressed his face into the surface, obviously still tired and sore from his injuries. On his right was a pissed-off looking Diego, hands ashy from scouring through rubble. Luther’s left was Allison, who kept glancing at each sibling nervously like she expected them to scream at her. She picked at the thick bandage wrapped around her hand.Klaus, obviously drunk, was leaning backwards in his chair as he gargled whiskey in his mouth. His hands matched Diego’s in their ashiness. Five was next to Allison, hunkered down in his seat and stone-faced. His occasional taps on his teacup were the only thing that showed he was jumpy. Ben was scribbling something down on a notepad, but he kept shooting Five a look, as if he was checking to make sure Five hadn’t died again. And finally Vanya, quietly seated, bit her lips.

It’s really quiet. 

Then Grace entered the room with steaming hot plates of food, it barely mattered what it was because after the day they had all been through, they were starving.

It’s over this food that they finally started talking.

“So,” Diego’s voice is way too loud, but strong enough that every single Hargreeves looked up from whatever they were doing to look at him, “We couldn’t find those assassins.”

Five shrunk down in his chair, attempting to look smaller. Diego glanced at him, “Uh.. you wanna tell us about that, Five?”

Five’s face contorted like he’d just bitten into a lemon and his eyes changed to a disgusted olive green. Vanya spoke up for him, much bolder now that Five was back, “He can’t talk for some reason. But he’s been writing stuff down for me.”

“Ok,” said Diego, shooting Klaus a nervous glance, “So, Five…”

Five grabbed a pen and began to scribble something down. They all waited patiently until he finished, holding up the pad. It read, “Memory a bit fuzzy. Sorry.”

“That’s not helpful,” Diego told him which just made Five’s slight frown deepen.

Ben gave Five a small smile before speaking up, “Maybe you should be more specific, Diego.”

Diego nodded and opened his mouth to ask Five another question but this time Luther beat him to it, “Who is in charge of the Aeternalis?”

Five’s eyes shifted to a pure white fear before changing slowly back to a calmer blue. He scribbled down some words, “Her name is Alpha. Don’t know much about her.”

“A chick, huh?” Klaus observed distantly, the first time he’d spoken at the table, “Time to reevaluate my views a bit.”

Five nodded, his gaze locked on the table, like he couldn’t bring himself to look at Klaus. Ben rolled his eyes. 

Allison asked the next question, “How does the mind control work exactly, Five?” Her voice is condescending in a way that was probably not intentional, simply a mother’s instinct, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

Five seemed to consider this before writing something down, “Alpha has swirly eyes.”

“Swirly eyes?” Diego echoed, “What does that mean?”

Five went back to his carrots with a shrug, eyes downcast. A typical sulky teenage look that would’ve been amusing if Five wasn’t the only person who might be able to give them information on the worst enemies the world has ever known.

“Five!” snapped Diego with the tone of a man who’d already lost the thin patience he had. Five jumped in his seat, eyes flickering to the bright orange of startled. His hands even glowed slightly blue and shot off sparks. Diego pressed on, “What does that mean?”

Five wrote quickly, “Her eyes make you sleepy.”

“Mind-controlling eyes seems the most likely to me,” Ben observed quietly. His head turned to talk to Five, curled up on himself, “Five, how did you get out?”

Five beamed at him, enthusiastically scribbling his reply. Ben shot Diego a triumphant, ‘our brother likes me better’ look.

Five took a while longer to describe his escape, eventually ending up with, “Was away from Alpha on a mission, started to remember things, Delores said not to talk to her anymore.”

“Delores?” asked Vanya, curious about her brother’s exploits. Five simply pointed at the rabbit seated next to his plate before shoving a handful of carrots into his mouth. Luther lifted his head that was buried in the table to stare at the rabbit, “You kept it?”

Five’s face softened when he saw Luther and inclined his head in a short nod. Luther’s head raised up to meet their little brother’s, a smile forming on his face. The table fell silent again, but this time it’s a more peaceful silence than before.

It’s Allison who asked the most loaded question, “What are they planning?”

The answer is short and clipped, “The Apocalypse.”

“The Apocalypse?” Klaus’s voice got higher, “What the fuck does that mean?

Now Five genuinely looked confused when he gave another half-hearted shrug. Ben blew a strand of hair out of his face, “I can go through the files we got from that space base to find something matching the Apocalypse, but it might take a bit.”

“That’s fine,” Diego said with a shrug, “As long as we can figure out what it is,” he shot Five’s hunched over form a look, “Are you sure that you don’t know what it is?”

“Yes,” said the words on the notepad, “I can’t remember anything from when I was inside the base.”

“The Apocalypse is in the base?” asked Vanya in confusion, “Why would anyone keep a massive weapon in their base?”

Luther squinted at the plate in front of him, “To keep it safe from us.”

“Are you suggesting we blow that place up?” Klaus said with a glint in his eyes, “Cause I’m totally down!”

“As fun and effective as that sounds,” Allison said dryly, “Maybe there’s not enough of us to storm and blow up an entire base.”

“They literally just did it with two of them,” Klaus informed her, setting his feet on the table with a grin, “Well, three but Epsilon didn’t do anything.”

Five jolted at his old name being used, before grabbing his teacup and bunny toy and leaving. He didn’t look back.

“Nice one, Klaus,” Ben sighed, “You just got Five to leave. Have some self awareness.”

Klaus gaped at him before slamming his hand down on the table in a blur of motion, “What the fuck is wrong with you?  _ Have some self-awareness?  _ Ben, he  _ killed  _ Dave! I can’t just ignore that and go back to acting like everything is fine and dandy because it’s not! You are all ignoring the fact that it doesn’t matter if he’s Five or not, he  _ still killed people. _ ”

The rest of the Hargreeves stared at him as he panted hard from his outburst tears slipping down his cheeks. Klaus straightened and gripped his jacket, shifting it over his shoulders, not bothering to wipe off the tears, instead walked out with his dignity intact.

“I’m going to go check on Five,” Vanya said abruptly, standing up and heading out the door. The only one who watched her go was Ben.

“Well,” Diego said, “That happened.”

Luther put his head back onto the table with a slam, but Allison bit her lip, eyes darting between where Klaus had gone and where Five had gone. Eventually, she stood up, “I need to think.”

She left too, heading towards the kitchen where Mom was, leaving Diego, Luther and Ben alone. Ben cleared his throat, causing both of them to look at him, “I’m not telling you what to do or anything, but Klaus is right. But, it also wasn’t Five’s fault. I think you need to figure something out, before someone does something they’ll regret.” He doesn't say it, but they can see him look at the doorway Klaus went through.

He wheeled out of the room, towards the bedrooms.

Diego sighed sharply, “Luth.”

“I know,” Luther mumbled into the table, “But I don’t wanna…”

“Same,” Diego agreed, taking a sip of his drink, “But we need to come up with something.”

“I know,” Luther repeated.

Diego scoffed to himself, “I don’t know. Mind telling me what you know?”

“I’m keeping Five away,” Luther said tiredly, “He needs a break and we need time to adjust. I think we need to keep Five in here, to integrate back into the Academy. He’s only been here about a half day, let’s give everyone time to adjust.”

“Smart move there, leader,” admitted Diego, “What will you do about Klaus?”

“I’m giving him time,” Luther said, standing up stiffly. His burns were covered in ointment and he looked on the verge of collapse, “That’s all we really can give him at this point.”

* * *

When Vanya found Five in the hallway of bedrooms, he was cradling the bunny in his arms and blinking sleepily. His hair was messy and in his face, something she wasn’t used to. There’s a teacup on his nightstand and a slight trail of steam emerged from the lid. 

“Five?” She asked softly. Upon hearing her enter, Five lifted up the notepad with a prepared response.

‘GO AWAY VANYA.’

“Five,” she sighed, heading over to his bed anyways. Settling herself down on his blankets, she wrapped one arm around his body, “Don’t blame yourself for what happened, you were under mind control. It’s not your fault.”

He snorted, piercing her heart with nostalgia. Carefully, he grabbed the pen from where it was next to his teacup and wrote, ‘It shouldn't have happened in the first place.”

“No, it shouldn’t have,” Vanya pushed the notepad down, allowing Five to look at her face, “You don’t deserve that. And Klaus doesn’t deserve that either. It’s no one’s fault but the Aeternalis’ for fucking everything up.” His lips twitch as though he’s trying not to smile.

Vanya ran her hand across his blankets and patted him again, “No one deserved to be hurt.”

Five’s facade broke at that moment and he fell into his pillow with quiet sniffling. Vanya blinked and then, drew her brother up into a tight hug, “Hey, I’m sorry for making you upset. Why don’t you come with me?”

He pulled himself away from his pillow to blink up at her. She laughed, ruffling his hair, “You look like you don’t want to be alone right now.”

The two of them end up sprawled out all over Vanya’s bed. Five on top of Vanya’s legs and Vanya’s arm awkwardly on Five’s chest.

* * *

Allison found Mom in the kitchen, stirring something sweet-smelling in a pot. The smell was so thick that she could taste it, the tinge of honey and mint swirled together in the air.

Allison inhaled deeply, taking in the scent, “What are you making Mom?”

“Oh!” Mom turned around, a spoon clasped in her grip, “I’m making something for Five’s throat, The poor dear can’t even speak it’s so bad.”

“That’s awfully nice of you, Mom,” admitted Allison, leaning over to gaze into the pot, “Can I ask your advice on something?”

Grace’s eyes lit up and she spun to face her daughter with a beam, “Of course!”

“If your child wouldn’t stop crying, and you had my powers.” Allison paused before continuing, “Would you stop your child from crying?”

“Of course not!” Grace said, leaning on the counter, “If you force a child to stop crying, then the problem won’t get fixed.”

“What do you mean?” Allison asked, setting her elbows down on the table. Grace tilted her head with a gentle smile, “A child cries to alert a parent to the issue. If you stop a child from crying, it doesn’t stop the issue.It only means that the child can’t alert you to the issue at hand.” With that she turned back to the pot.

Allison was floored, “Oh.”

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Grace seemed to have noticed that Allison wasn’t exactly doing a-okay, “Do you need a hug?”

Allison laughed, surprised and sad simultaneously, “Actually, I might.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Alpha does some things, people get hurt.


	21. don't know if you love me or you want me dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blood on my shirt, rose in my hand  
You're looking at me like you don't know who I am  
Blood on my shirt, heart in my hand  
Still beating  
-Teeth, 5 Seconds of Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just proof that i can’t stick to my own words, i suck
> 
> BTW: This chapter ends Part One! We’re heading into the massive fluffy whump that is part two featuring bonding and space!

There’s something about the dark caves that always got her blood pumping, no matter what mood she was in. And what a mood she was in, an awful one to be sure! Alpha simply hummed as she walked, keeping her thin smile on her face but inside she was fuming. Because Five was gone, progress on the Apocalypse would be slowed down, something she didn’t have time to wait for.

Of course as soon as she had begun to feel Five slipping from her control she had tried to rein him back in, trying to get in contact with him again. Of course, Delta and Kappa had failed to get him to talk to her, they may be good at their jobs but they were bad with their words. Still, all hope wasn’t lost!

She wasn’t willing to admit that she needed Five to finish the Apocalypse project, at least not out loud. And now, she’d lost both him and Reginald Hargreeves’ cooperation in one single stupid move. 

That’s the thing about war, it’s messy. Alpha had been raised into it after all, she knew it better than anyone and people will do anything to cover up their tracks, especially with their reputations on the line. She’d watched Reginald Hargreeves resort to many things simply to cover up the biggest mistake of his life and laughed about how much he cared about something as simple as his own reputation.

She didn’t need that. She knew most of the Aeternalis feared her, and that was good enough.

But this could pose a problem for her.

With Five gone, she had no way of getting new calculations for the Apocalypse and she was willing to admit that no one else could do them as fast as Five could, although some came close. 

But she had 8 weeks to get the Apocalypse up and running before her superiors killed her so..

Someone was waiting for her at the end of the hallway, someone clothed in black and standing rigidly, silent.

“Zeta,” she acknowledged, barely sparing him a glance, “What do you want?”

Zeta was one of those kinds of people who couldn’t see the whole picture, something Alpha despised. He had one reason for existing as he did which made him easy to control, if she could relate everything the Aeternalis was doing back to this one thing, then she didn’t need to check on him as intimately as someone like Five, who was constantly evolving.

Alpha knew her assassins, in and out. It was part of the deal of mind control, sure her power was used to also control the thousands of soldiers under their command, but she only needed to give them basic orders, fight and kill. 

With an assassin, things were a lot different. To get someone to carry out more complicated demands she had to know them better than they knew themselves. She’d been able to control Five simply by taking away all memories of the Academy, she’d controlled Kappa by erasing his wife from him.

It was honestly simple. But with Zeta, it had been much more fun than the normal erasing important people. She’d simply increased his resentment towards the one thing in his life that he hated more than anything else.

The Academy.

Hmm.

Alpha’s hit with the sudden realization that she can  _ use  _ this.

She’s practically been ignoring Zeta’s rant during her little mental tirade so she finally checked into what he was saying.

“And I think that if you want the Academy out of the way.”

“Sure,” is all she really needed to say. Zeta stopped talking, gaping at her like a confused fish, “What?”

“If you are asking to go out there then the answer is yes,” Alpha said with a shrug, “Just don’t kill Five, I need him.”

“Five’s back?” asked Zeta, his hands twitching, “When did that happen?”

“A day ago,” Alpha replied with a shrug,”It wasn’t announced or anything, but we got a report from Delta and Kappa.”

“What about Epsilon?” Zeta asked, “Wasn’t he with them?”

“Yes, but he got captured,” Alpha said cooly, watching his face twitch in shock. An Aeternalis assassin had never been captured before, something Alpha had been proud of. Oh well.

“No matter, Delta and Kappa are tasked with retrieving him. He’ll be punished when we get him back here, for such sloppy work.” Alpha tutted in disappointment, “Too bad, I had high hopes for him

She studied Zeta, “What were you asking me again?” She already knew in the back of her mind but she wanted to hear him say it again.

“I want to kill the Academy,” He said resolute.

Alpha’s face twisted into a grin, “Of course you do. We all do.”

* * *

The second a hand shook his shoulder, Five snapped to attention, rousing from his relatively peaceful sleep with a start. On instinct, his arm swiped the knife he’d hidden under his pillow and slashed at the person who’d grabbed him. There was a whistle of air, a sudden gasp and then silence. He froze, his knife delicately balancing next to the neck of Ben.

“Whoa there, Five,” Ben said surprisingly good-naturedly despite the fact Five had almost knifed him in the next. He pushed the knife away from his neck with one finger. Five stared at him blearily, “You sleep with knives now, duly noted.”

Five nodded, rubbing his left eye in an attempt to get the stickiness out. He glanced to his left, where Vanya had been when he’d fallen asleep. She wasn’t there anymore, but there was an imprint of her on his bed, so he knew she’d left not too long ago.

“Yea, the others went out to survey the damage this morning,” Ben explained, following Five’s look, “But you’re under quarantine right now. We don’t want you getting hurt.” His hand twitched as it came towards Five’s knee, eventually setting on top of it. Five sighed.

“You know, I miss hearing you call me names,” Ben said softly, “Mom says your voice should come back soon, then you can call me an idiot again.”

_ You aren’t an idiot, _ Five wanted to tell him, but he can’t, so he settled for a head shake.

Ben bit his lips, “You think I’m not an idiot?” he guessed, as Five nodded enthusiastically.

“Ha,” Ben’s laugh is fake, “I’m not. I couldn’t..” He seemed to not be able to find the words, instead reaching for FIve and pulling him toward his chest. Five, despite it being unprompted, folded into the hug instantly. Ben finally finished his words, “I couldn’t figure out you’d been kidnapped.”

_ That’s it?  _ Five wanted to ask,  _ Seriously?  _ Since he’s not able to express his disbelief at Ben’s idiocy, he flicked Ben hard on the forehead.

“Ow!” Ben clapped his hand to his head with a grimace, “What the.. That shouldn't have hurt as much as it did!”

To emphasize his point, Five flicked him again, this time on the arm, getting his attention. Ben blinked at Five like a dumbfounded deer an expression that matched Luther creepily well, considering they weren’t biologically related. Five scowled at him.

“What?”

With an exhale of air that was more dramatic than it probably should’ve been, Five grabbed the notepad, writing “You are being stupid. No one could’ve known.”

“Yea, but,” Ben tried to protest but Five simply pressed a finger against Ben’s mouth before he could say anything. 

“Ok you little asshole, I’ll stop,” Although he said it with a light air of amusement, Ben’s eyes were sad when he looked at Five, “We should help Mom with breakfast.”

Five jumped suddenly, leaving Ben crouched by the bed. He stood in the doorframe as Ben forced his chair to spin around, glowering, “I forgot how annoying that is.”

Five shrugged cheekily, waiting for Ben to catch up with him and Delores before heading towards the kitchen where Mom was probably if memory served. His memory, once so faulty, was proven correct when he saw Mom’s dress in the door. She spun around, “Hello Five! Hello Ben!”

“Hi Mom,” Ben returned, wheeling through the door and over to her, “Need any help this morning?”

“Nope!” She said before looking at Five, “You like a lot of syrup right?”

He looked up at her, shrinking down because he doesn’t actually remember if he does or not, but deciding that Mom probably knew best, went with a nod. Ben beamed at him so he figured it was probably right.

It’s after Ben sat down next to Five at the table that Five realized that he’s  _ nervous.  _ That’s really the best word to describe it. Sure, Vanya and Ben have both been great, accepting him back into the fold of the Academy easily, but that’s not counting the others. The sideways glances of Allison, the same she used to do when she was unsure, the fierce words of Diego, interrogating him, Luther’s indifference, which was probably a result of the drugs he had been on yesterday.

And Klaus.

Klaus made him feel sick to his stomach and sweaty on his palms. But mostly sick,because how could  _ he? How could he have done that to him? _

The Klaus from his memories didn’t deserve that, nobody did, but espeically not the kid that forced him to pull stupid pranks and that Five had let cheat off his homework. The kid that Five had curled up in the mausoleum with, yelling at the ghosts to try and scare them away because surely, the shouting of two prepubescent boys would frighten a mass of undead.

He didn’t even remember pulling the trigger.

And that made him feel worse, because if Klaus was suffering from the pull of that trigger, Five wanted to relive that moment forever, to make sure he never forgot what he did. It was really the only way.

Then two waffles are placed in front of him, drowning in syrup. Five blinked at them, eyelids heavy before sourly placing his fork on the waffles, dragging them around his plate and through his syrup. The waffle sagged with the weight of the syrup and he blinked at it, lost in the moment until Mom set a drink in front of him.

“Here, sweetheart. This might wake you up,” she said gently, giving his hair a slight pat before heading back to the kitchen. He stared at the brown liquid in front of him, before lifting it to his lips and taking a sip.

It was similar to a slap in the face, and almost instantaneously he perked up. Ben rolled his eyes from next to him, “Of course you would like coffee. You always were tired in the morning.” He phrased it in the past tense, as though he was reminiscing about Five to Five. 

Five scowled at him, “Right here,” ending it with a sip of his coffee with his eyes closed, eventually opening one to see Ben’s wide, slack stare.

“What?”

“You-you’re talking?” breathed Ben, his slack face changing into a grin as the realization dawned on Five that he just spoke, even if it was very raspy.

“Shit.” Five said, not sure how to process this. Ben blinked at him before bursting into abrupt laughter, eventually dying down to quiet giggles.

“You sound like a dying bird,” Ben said through his laughter, “We need to get you more honey.”

“Shut,” Five said before his voice cracked and died, sending Ben into another wave of hysterical laughter, “Holy shit, you’re hitting puberty!”

“Puber-?,” the end of his rope was hit and Five started coughing before he could finish his question. Ben didn’t even check if he was ok, still cackling at Five’s misfortune. Dick.

“This is the best day of my life,” Ben told Five, who was still glaring at him. Mom who had apparently been listening to entire time, took that opportunity to chime in, “I suppose I’ll have to give you ‘the talk’ Five.”

This was the tipping point for Ben, who collapsed into the table wheezing with laughter. Heat flooded through Five’s face, he’d already had this talk thank you very much! He didn’t need a mirror to know his eyes were the color of peachy pink, embarrassed. So they sat there for a couple of seconds with a bright-red Five, a currently dying Ben and an oblivious Mom, just as the others walked in to the scene.

Just great.

“What’s going on?” Diego asked, eyeing Five like he was afraid Five had done something, which was ridiculous because Five was in the middle of dying from embarrassment. Ben,in the middle of dying on the table,managed to say, “Five’s hitting puberty,” causing Five to flush even more.

He grabbed a small salt packet from next to his plate and threw it at Ben’s forehead, “Shut up!” He would be proud of himself for saying that except his voice cracked again in the middle of that.

Ben practically howled with laughter as Five sunk his face into his hands.

“He’s talking?” Allison asked Ben, but this time Five can speak for himself, “Yes.”

The apprehension written in Diego and Klaus’ expressions is completely overpowered by the blinding beam in Vanya’s. 

It feels amazing to be able to talk to her again, but his mood is soured by Luther.

“We have to head over to another planet right now,” he said, practically ignoring Five, “The people out there will handle the rest of the clean-up. We need to respond to this distress signal.” He paused, finally looking at Five, “We need to make sure that our failure to save the base isn’t setting there standard.”

And under his withering look, Five lost the words he’d just gotten back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three guesses as to who Zeta is..
> 
> Lets say it together...
> 
> Harold.  
It’s Harold.
> 
> Next Time: Allison and Luther decide their stance on Five, The distress signal is about something weirder than you probably think


	22. it used to be so hard to see

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you can't even hide it  
And it didn't take forever to find it  
I was all on my own  
Almost glad to be alone  
Until love came in on time.
> 
> -Loving is Easy, Rex Orange County

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if y'all were worried or something, because I took a slight leave of absence from this story. I wanted a bit of time to rearrange some plot points and then, my brain was like LETS WRITE ANOTHER FIC
> 
> So i wrote that one and now i'm a mess. But I'm back!
> 
> The update schedule is still gonna be wonky for a bit, but I hope you all don't care that much!

He reminded her of Claire, in a way. Claire also had trouble speaking, was also afraid of people with intimidating figures and massive weapons. Claire also carried around a stuffed animal and clenched it tighter to her chest when people tried to rip it from her. Claire had also been pulled away from Allison’s loving arms a long time ago.

Her daughter was gone, but her brother was here. 

The Academy sat together on the bridge of the ship they had stolen,  _ The Icarus _ , together but alone. Each of them were in their own bubbles, split down the middle, she realized. 

Five was curled up in the very corner of the ship, making odd noises to try and warm up his throat again, but his eyes kept darting towards Klaus as though one look would make it all ok. Klaus was on the complete opposite side of the ship, ignoring him and rubbing the dog tags around his neck. There was an unfinished glass of whiskey to his left and he didn’t seem to even remember that he’d put it there.

Vanya and Ben were together, next to Five, stating their allegiance to him and simultaneously providing support for the obviously traumatized kid. They were going over the files in the computer and occasionally whispering together about the contents. Allison caught phrases such as, “Fucked up,” “absolutely horrible” and “disgusting.”

Diego sharpened one of his knives from besides Klaus, shooting Five dark looks and intimidating glares. Allison knew he was just trying to support Klaus in this trying time, but watching Five’s face fall every time Diego looked his way was awful in it’s own right.

And then there’s her. 

In the middle of the two groups, with a pull towards both. 

On one hand, she’d been in love once. With Patrick, she’d been happy, before all the fights and arguments and drunken nights.

On the other, she also had a child.

A child who she’d forced herself to pull away from, and treat her as not a person, simply because she’d been afraid to lose her to the war. And now she had lost her, but not to the fighting, to the vicious world of the court system.

And her opinion meant the most to the debate, she knew that. As the only one with any experience with mind control, her choice mattered the most. If she chose Five, she’d be admitting to herself that it was possible to break out of her own control and she’d be supporting a murderer.

If she chose Klaus, then she was saying that Five’s pain was invalid and that he’d chosen to kill Dave, something she knew from experience wasn’t true.

It was all a mess. And she couldn’t even see where Luther was leaning because he was gone, off driving the ship to who knows where. 

She needed a cigarette.

She looked up towards the travel time above her and saw that they were quite close to their destination, but she had enough time to go get something if she really wanted it. Her hand pressed into her forehead, reminding her that out of all the dumbasses on this ship, she was probably one of the most responsible, she had to set a good example.

But,  _ wow,  _ she really needed that cigarette.

She must've looked a bit twitchy because suddenly, a cool had is pressed against her forehead and she gazed up into the cool eyes of Mom. Mom doesn’t say anything, instead simply smiling at Allison and handing her a cookie, before making a circle around to the rest of Allison’s siblings.

She watched them all take cookies from their mom, either with politeness or apprehension and slowly begin eating together. With a sigh, the cookie in her hand is bitten into and she chewed on it thoughtfully. It’s almost bizarre how even in the most tense of situations, like this one, Mom’s cookies still managed to give her the warm feeling that buzzed down to her toes and plastered a grin on her face.

As she continued to eat, she glanced at her siblings, all eating as well and smiled to herself. If all it took was a bit of food to get them all to stop glaring at each other, then maybe… things would work out ok?

It was then, in that moment, that Allison made her decision. That she wasn’t going to pick a side. Because if they were really a family, if they were going to try and live through this as both a family and a team, they didn’t need more conflict, they needed to be together, they needed the glue. 

And Allison was perfectly willing to play that part for now, until the scales were balanced and the water was under the bridge and the fighting had stopped. Because out of all the roles she played, a mom, a politician, an actress, a wife, she’d never tried playing a sister before. 

She wondered why she hadn’t thought of this sooner.

In the calmness of the cookie-eating, Allison had completely forgotten about the mission they were heading out to do at the moment, so it’s a genuine fright to see Luther come out of the driver’s area of the ship and head towards the door. She almost rose to her feet to try and force him back into the driver’s seat because  _ if we don’t have a driver, we’re going to crash _ , until she realized that the ship had actually stopped moving.

She’s an idiot apparently.

The others don’t seem to have the same issue, instead they get to their feet and head over to the door, some like Five still with cookies in hand. Luther silently opened the door and the Academy, complete for the first time in years, emerged onto the rocky ground of the planet.

There’s a man there, waiting for them, his crisp uniform without a wrinkle on it and Luther strode up to him with an obviously rehearsed greeting, “Hello, We are the Academy. We received your distress signal, what seems to be the issue?”

It’s a really stupid greeting. But the man blinked at him and replied, “We don’t have any issues? Everything’s been fine up here.”

“But we.” Luther tried to speak but Diego interrupted, “Look, dude, We’re all a bit grouchy right now, but we’d appreciate it if you cut the bullshit and just tell us what the problem is?”

The man blinked in bewilderment, “There is no issue here?”

Five shifted uncomfortably from where he’s hiding behind Vanya, a humorous thing because even as a thirteen year old, he’s slightly taller than her. Ben sighed tiredly and Allison is inclined to agree, so she spoke up, “Alright if you won’t tell us what is happening, then we will leave.” She turned on her heel and made to get back on the plane, the other Academy members watching her go.

The man seemed unruffled by her threat, instead nodding at her, because he apparently believed that nothing was wrong. The others followed her lead after a couple of slow steps back up the stairs, eventually all of them ending up back where they started.

“What the fuck, Allison?” asked Klaus, getting straight to the problem, “We’re aren’t just going to give up, just like that?”

“No we aren’t,” She agreed, sitting down with a grunt, “We just need to make them think that we did.”

“Why?” Luther asked, “So we can break into their base or something?” His statement is sarcastic, but it’s exactly what she wanted to do. Luther gaped at her.

“Think about it, if the guy outside said that no one pulled the alarm, then it could be right,  _ to his knowledge.  _ One of the higher-ups didn’t pull the signal, one of the soldiers did.” Allison pointed out, watching the gears in her siblings heads turn together. Five got it first, nodding along with her words before she’d even finished.

“So all we have to do is sneak in and figure out who pulled it?” Diego’s face was impressed, “That’ll be simple.”

“Not really,” Ben argued, “All bases do have a fuck-ton of security, we’d be arrested.”

“Right,” Allison gave her siblings a grim smile, “Luckily we have someone here, who’s broken into an Alliance base before.” Her eyes focused on Five’s face. 

“Me?” He croaked out, pointing to himself as if he couldn’t believe it. Allison nodded, waiting for Five to realize what’s she’s offering him, a rope. If he can do this without messing up, it would allow the others to trust him again. She winked at him, trying to get her message across and it worked, because of the light of realization that sparked in his color-changing eyes.

“I can do,” He can’t finish, but his point got across because both Diego and Klaus start protesting.

“We shouldn’t!”

“What if he..”

“It’s not a good idea..”

Allison almost felt guilty for suggesting it because of their anger, but when she looked at Five’s face, it was all worth it. He stared at her, his lips twitching and a genuine look on his face like she’d just reached over and given him a chance to breathe again. It almost took her breath away to see him like that, and she knew instantly she’d made the right decision. And Vanya’s blinding grin only served to solidify that.

The warm feeling she’d had while eating those cookies was back and better than ever.

Luther eventually grew tired of Klaus and Diego’s protests because he turned to look at their youngest brother with serious contemplation, “Do you think you can do it?”

Those words brought back all the memories from when she was younger, huddled next to the others during battles and Luther asking Five if he could teleport them all out, teleport them all to safety.

A hard steel grew in Five’s eyes and he answered Luther with one short nod, resolute and strong. And Luther nodded, “Then we’ll do Allison’s plan.”

Good, she thought to herself, eyes dancing on all of her siblings’s faces, Klaus: blank but angry, Diego: annoyed on Klaus’ behalf, Ben: happy, Vanya: proud of her, and Five: filled with hope and Luther: weary but also proud.

It’s the way it should be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Investigating!


	23. and i guess the bad can get better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Try to mend what's left of my content incomprehension  
As I take on the stress of the mess that I've made  
Don't know if I even care for "grown"  
If it's just alone  
-Growing Pains, Alessia Cara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS EMMY’S BIRTHDAY!!
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
> 
> Also, I love how many WIPS i have, i’m dying.

For absolutely no reason whatsoever, Five found himself in the kitchen, going through the motions of making a sandwich. He didn’t even know what kind of sandwich he was making, to be honest, just that he’d done it many, many times before this one. As he moved through the motions, he took slight notes of what exactly he was grabbing.. Peanut butter… marshmallows ...what?

Then he took a bite of his sandwich and everything made sense again. He pulled the sandwich out of his mouth to stare at it, “Wow.”

“Is it really that good?” asked Delores from where she was perched beside him.

“Of course,” He responded, only slightly raspy, “I’m a genius.” 

“Sure, you are,” said a voice from behind him and Five almost jumped out of his skin. He turned on his heel to see Luther behind him.

“Luther,” He mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich, setting it down on the side so that he looked more attentive. Luther’s steps were heavy on the floor until he set himself on the seat next to Five with a sigh.

“Five.” he replied, fixing Five with his tired blue eyes. Five shoveled the rest of the sandwich in his mouth, aware of how much bigger Luther is compared to him now. If Luther were to make a move on him, aggressive or not, Five readied himself for a jump. 

“Are you gonna be ok?” Luther set one of his hands on top of Five’s, “I don’t know if you should be pushing yourself.”

All the fight drained out of Five’s body instantly and he breathed tiredly, his whole body sagging downwards. Luther’s hand was warm on his. Five lifted his head to meet Luther’s gaze and spoke, “Maybe not.”

His response might seem a bit clipped, he knew that, but his voice was honestly not that great at the moment, so.. Luther sighed and before Five knew it, Luther’s hand was pushing back his hair. The weight on his head was soft and tired, just like Luther if he was honest.

“You’re my brother, Five. I don’t want you pushing yourself. Especially after,” His other hand gestured to the side, “all that. You need to care about yourself a bit and I’ll understand if you want to back out of this.”

“No,” Five told him locking his eyes with Luther’s, “I will.” He paused making sure that his voice wouldn’t die on him if he continued, “do it.”

“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” Luther murmured, still petting Five’s hair. Five could feel a deep rage at his words, flowing through his body. 

“Not trying to,” he answered cryptically, polishing off the rest of his sandwich. Delores simply raised her eyebrows at him and he stuck his tongue out at her childishly. Luther watched this interaction with a distant confusion.

Five rose to his feet and grabbed Delores’ arm. They needed to go get ready for the mission. “Five?” Luther’s questioning voice was mild but Five still turned to see him. 

Luther’s eyes darted towards Delores and then he sighed, “I’m glad you kept that bunny I gave you.”

Five can’t help but smile at that.

* * *

He’s in the clothing storage room, looking for something to put on. Five was never one to care much for the clothes he wore, as long as they were functional, but his current clothes just weren’t doing it for him anymore, no matter how cool they were. Never let it be said that the Aeternalis didn’t have good fashion taste. 

Klaus would probably disagree with him though, and he would probably be right since Five was never someone invested in the world of high fashion.

He’d change his clothes only because the Klaus he used to know would scream at him for shaming the family name by wearing all  _ leather. _

“Don’t be like Diego,” Klaus would tell him angrily, “He’s a menace to society.”

Five found himself rolling his eyes at imaginary Klaus. He quickly stopped that and began to scour the wardrobe for something wearable. 

He ended up in a school uniform, no not even a school uniform. An Academy cosplay? Whatever it was, it looked similar to the uniform he used to wear as a kid, except way more comfortable. Jeez, if he’d known the uniforms could be this much better he would’ve been pissed at his dad.

Delores rumbled from the table, “You look weird.”

“You look weird,” he shot back, unnaturally pleased with his comeback. Five sighed, looking down at the pile of leather on the floor. Gingerly, he picked up the holsters he used to use for his weapons and strapped them to his body. You never knew when you might need to use them. 

Even with the holsters, there was something off about the entire ensemble he was wearing, and it wasn’t the fact that his knees were exposed. Eventually as he scanned the outfit up and down, he realized it was the shoes. They were dress shoes, not suitable for fighting. 

Five put on his heavyweight boots with the high top socks and stared at himself in the mirror. He looked like an Academy fanboy with a heavy weapons obsession.

“It’s perfect,” Delores told him. 

Five nodded in agreement, heading down to the weapons room with Delores in tow. He left all his clothes in a pile on the floor.

He didn’t really believe in things like miracles, but he was utterly relieved that he didn’t encounter any of his siblings on his journey downwards towards the weapons room. He wasn’t so lucky when he got there however, because Diego was waiting from him, carefully plucking the knives out.

Not willing to engage in a conversation with the brother who’d shot him deadly looks throughout the entire conversation upstairs, Five kept silent as he moved around the room, grabbing small guns and knives. Diego watched him out of the sides of his dark eyes, forcing the cool air to turn stale.

“Why are you grabbing those?” Diego asked, his tone hard. Five dropped his hand and fixed him with a glare, hoping his look would say it all. Diego scoffed, so it probably didn’t.

“For battle,” Five tried, grabbing at another stack of bullets. Diego’s scowl went deeper, “Are you going to shoot Allison’s husband next?”

“Only if she wants me too,” Five replied wryly, trying to joke. Diego rose to his full height above him, scowling at him and gripin a knife in his hand. Five merely blinked at him, having faced Delta and Kappa for almost seventeen years, his brother wasn’t very threatening at all. Even so, he felt himself take a step back, just so he could look Diego in the eyes.

“So you’ll just shoot anyone on a whim?” Diego snarled down at him, Five felt himself shrinking down. Delores tutted at him, “You’re an idiot, Five.”

“Not what I meant,” Five choked out, his legs buckling. Something twitched in Diego’s jaw and Five stared at it, determined to look anywhere but Diego’s face.

They stared at each other for a couple of minutes before Diego’s hard gaze softened the slightest bit, allowing Five to breath under his withering look.

“Five,” Diego’s voice is less angry than it was before, which Five took as a good sign, “You..”

Diego paused, thinking about his words. Five straightened, letting Diego mull over what he was going to say. It was a familiar feeling, Five had often waited for a younger Diego to get his words out, his stutter holding him back.

“You’re my brother,” Diego finally said, crouching down so that he was face to face with Five, “But Klaus is my brother too.”

Five kept his face schooled when Klaus’s name came up, but a shattering pang of guilt flooded through him. 

“I..” Diego licked his lips, “I don’t know how to feel.”

“That’s fair,” Five agreed with a shrug, “You don’t need to talk to me if you don’t want to.”

He made a move to leave, letting his powers flood through his body, determined to get away from Diego. His brother had other plans however, grabbing Five’s fist before he could.

“Hey, don’t just leave,” Diego said, voice abnormally calm, “I still want to talk to you.”

Five pulled his hand away from Diego’s, “About what?” he rasped. Delores shrugged from behind Diego, her gaze impassive.

“I don’t blame you for what happened,” Diego finally said, but his face showed the opposite from his calm tone, “But, you shot Klaus’ husband. You shot someone I knew.”

“Thanks for telling me, I had no idea,” Five said dryly, noting how bad his voice was, he needed more water or honey.

Diego studied him with his dark eyes, “I’m not forgetting that. But I am willing to forgive you.” There’s a stale pause before he goes on, “But you have to earn that. And I hope you do. Allison gave you a shot and I hope you don’t take it lightly because,” He’s in Five’s face, the smell of Mom's cooking on his breath, “If you get another member of my family killed, it won’t matter that you’re my brother. I will kill you myself.”

Diego stood up, grabbing his knife case and headed upstairs, not even sparing Five a parting glance. Delores sighed from behind him, “You heard the man, you better not fuck this up.”

* * *

Five stumbled back upstairs, too dizzy to teleport. When he arrived in the meeting room, Diego was already there, sitting at the bar where Klaus was currently drowning his feelings in alcohol. Five had half a mind to go and join them but he decided it wouldn’t exactly be the best move on his part. 

Instead, he went to a small seat in the corner and sat there with Delores. 

“Hey,” she said staring at him with soft eyes, “You ok?”

“Nervous,” he muttered, eyeing his brothers at the bar. He didn’t want them seeing this moment between him and Delores. His voice cracked.

_ I’m not sure I can do it, _ he thought tiredly,  _ I haven’t teleported multiple people in a long time. _

“That’s fair,” she said with a sigh, “But you’re trying to prove yourself. Maybe you should not do it. Just for the safety of the others?”

_ I need to do it _ , he replied, drumming his fingers on the table. Vaguely, he registered Luther coming into the room, followed by Allison.

_ If I don’t, _ he can’t even finish the sentence. He’s desperate, he knew that. And desperation was weakness. Five had watched so many people make stupid decisions when they were desperate. It was part of how the Aeternalis recruited. and now, he was in the same position as them, making the same decisions. 

He buried his face in his hands with a moan. 

“Hey, Five,” said the soft voice of Allison’s He glanced up to see his entire family looking at him. Allison smiled, “Ready?”

Ignoring the pull in his gut that whispered no, Five grinned back, “Ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Vanya meets a guy, His name is Leonard


	24. if i cut myself, i would bleed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They pull me by my hair, so I don't go nowhere  
Tell me you love me, but you treat me like I'm never there  
You say the cruelest words, you used to break my heart  
'Cause, I'm over here working my ass off
> 
> -Show & Tell, Melanie Martinez

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some body once told me that I am very tired, and I aint the best WRITER AT ALLLLL
> 
> Can you tell that I never really know what to put here?

Klaus refused to touch Five. He couldn’t. Five made them all stand in a circle, grasping hands just as they had when they were children. So Klaus stood as far away from his little brother as he could, gripping Diego’s hand and Vanya’s. Five’s eyes were closed, eyelashes fluttering as the small furrow in his brows increased from the pressure. His hands began to glow a soft blue, enveloping the group in his powers. 

Klaus hated it. The warm familiar feeling of Five’s electric blue powers and the uniform he had dressed himself in, the Academy one. Klaus didn’t know where he found it, but it made his lips curl in disgust. His brother couldn’t claim that uniform again, not after what had happened with Dave.

There was a pull in his gut from Five’s powers and then.. unimaginable searing pain.

The screams echoed around his ears, not dissimilar to the screams of the ghosts. Then a loud crash. Klaus’ eyes opened, once, twice and he finally managed to take in his surroundings. In short, It was basically your average everyday military base, everything up to code. Klaus instantly disliked it, there’s no character in a place like this.

As he moved to get up, he realized that there was a blinding searing pain all over his body and he glanced down at his hands in disbelief, they were covered in blood. He blinked, not registering that it was  _ his  _ blood until he used one to swipe at his head. His hand coming down into his field of vision again, coated in more blood.

“What the..” he mumbled, unable to understand what had happened until he heard a slight loopy giggle from nearby. Klaus turned his head to see who had laughed, his eyes meeting Five’s exhausted green ones. The best way to describe the look on Five’s face was ditzy as he took in Klaus, his grin widening.

Blood dripped down Five’s nose and Klaus could see his hands were bright red and burned, his clothes had a fine layer of ash on them and he gave Klaus a blinding smile.

“Oops,” Five said, his already raspy voice drunk with exhaustion, before he tumbled to the floor. Klaus watched him face-plant into the concrete, already too delirious and pissed off to try and halt his fall. The cracking noise when Five hit the floor didn’t sound that good though so after he had fallen, Klaus cautiously went to his brother’s side.

“Five,” he shook Five’s arm, “Hey, dipshit.”

Five didn’t respond, something Klaus wasn’t sure if he was happy about or not. At least he didn’t have to talk to Five. But, as he stared at his brother on the floor, Klaus realized that if he left Five passed out there, just like he wanted to, Vanya and Ben would collectively kill him.

“Well, I don’t want to die,” he said aloud, reaching for Five’s body and heaving him over his shoulders. 

Five moaned rather pathetically, making Klaus’ heart clench with sympathy, something he immediately shoved down to the pits of his stomach. Klaus groaned and stumbled down the hallway with Five dangling from his grasp as he began to look for an infirmary or something to help Five.

When he began to feel more blood dripping down his face, he began to realize he might want to think about himself too.So when he spotted a group of soldiers loitering around an entrance to a door, he walked right up to them.

Both of them turned to see him, casually standing there with an unconscious assassin child across his shoulders.

“Hey guys,” Klaus said with his best “I'm a winner!” tone, “I was just wondering if you had some kind of infirmary around here, so I could ditch this guy I found in my trash.”

_ Ha, take that Five,  _ Klaus grinned triumphantly. The soldiers exchanged a skeptical glance with each other before looking back to Klaus.

“How did you get in here?” One of them asked, lifting their gun up a bit to point it at Klaus’ face. Klaus, immediately recognizing the drastic situation he was in, threw his hands up in surrender, ”Whoa, whoa! No need to be hasty boys! Or girls! Or people! We’re on the same side, right?”

One of the soldiers' guns lifted even higher to the point where it was pressed against Klaus’ nose. The soldier snarled back, voice low and animalistic, “Actually. We aren’t.”

It was then that Klaus noticed the small crest on their uniforms… Aeternalis.. 

“What the fuck, Five,” he managed before the soldiers grabbed him and wrenched Five off him. So much for sneaking in, he thought deliriously as the blood dripping from the wound on his head flooded his vision while the Aeternalis soldiers dragged him down the halls. 

He and Five were tossed into a prison together, Five still unconscious and bleeding. Klaus sat up against the bars, taking a look at his brother slumped on the floor.

“I’m really really pissed at you,” He told Five, “I’m so so so mad at you.” 

Five didn’t respond, which was fine because Klaus didn’t need him to respond to yell at him.

“God, you’re so little. I’m really pissed at you.” Klaus swiped some blood off his forehead, “Dave.. you killed him. You…” Something dripped down his nose and at first he simply assumed it was blood, but as he looked downwards he could see that the liquid was clear, “You killed him, Five.”

Klaus swallowed back the lump in his throat as his little brother lay still, “I won’t ever forget that. But..”

As he spoke to Five, he suddenly remembered something that he had theorized a long time ago when Dave had first been killed. That the ghost of Dave would remain right by his killer’s side, Klaus blinked. 

“Dave?” he whispered, eyes scanning the area around his brother’s body, “Dave, are you here?”

No response. Not a single ghost came towards him, arms open with kind words and gentle promises. Klaus found his cheeks getting wetter and wetter and his words are getting more and more frantic, “Dave. Dave!” 

He found himself grabbing Five’s shoulders and shaking his hurt little brother, “Five, where is he?”

Five doesn’t respond which is rather rude of him. Klaus grabbed Five, pulling his brother closer, “You can’t just kill Dave and then not have him around you, every day, you absolute dumbass.”

Five groaned and sighed, Klaus held his brother tighter and closer to his body. “Five,” He mumbled into Five’s hair, “Five, wake up so I can yell at you.”

Five doesn’t wake up and Klaus can’t help but cry harder.

* * *

Vanya found herself on the tile floor of a bathroom, pushed against the tile wall and bleeding from her hands. She sighed in pain, the blood and burns across her palms casing dark bubbles across her vision. As she lay on the floor a hand was pushed into her vision.

“Hi!” Said a very peppy voice, “Are you hurt?”

“Uhhh,” mumbled Vanya, letting him take her burned palm, “Yea a bit.”

“Alright,” Said the stocky man that had lifted her up, “I’ll walk you to the infirmary.”

“Oh,” she gasped in pain as his hand gripped hers, “That’s so sweet of you.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all,” He waved her off, ‘I’m Leonard by the way.”

“Vanya,” She smiled at him, “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

“No need to apologize. I was just passing by and I saw you were hurt .Is everything ok?” he murmured, guiding her to the infirmary.

“Yea,” Vanya replied absently, glancing down hallways to try and see if her siblings were anywhere, “But I came her with my family and I don’t see them anywhere. Have you seen a bunch of people in ridiculous costumes?”

Leonard’s face furrowed in confusion, “Why would your family be wearing costumes?”

Vanya’s mind went completely blank when he asked her the innocent question and she blurted, “Oh, they’re super into roleplay and stuff.”

“Huh, that’s weird,” Leonard sounded confused.

Vanya rolled her eyes as they headed into the infirmary, “Yea, they are pretty weird.”

“Hmmm,” Leonard gently pushed her down onto an infirmary seat, “I’ll help fix you up.”

“Great,” she said smiling up at this man who’d shown her kindness, He smiled back at her, “Cool, I’ll just be right back.” He pointed out the entrance of the door with a dorky little grin and headed out. Vanya watched him go with a soft smile.

_ He seemed nice. _

* * *

“If it isn’t Allison Hargreeves,” sneered a voice above her as she lay tied to a pole, gagged, “I love listening to your speeches, you’re truly an inspiration.”

Luther snarled from besides her at the stout man approaching them. Diego grunted in his sleep from her other side, knocked out after the ambush they’d been hit with. Allison could feel the tingles of Five’s powers still pulsing down her spine and the sharp burns that had been sliced into her wrists after Five had lost control.

Unlike the others, she’d kept her eyes open during the teleportation and she’d seen the strain on Five’s youthful face and she’d cursed herself. Five had always been someone who put other people over himself and she’d seen the desperate hope she’d given him with her lifeline, she should’ve known to give him more time to recover.

They’d only gotten him back a week ago and he’d only started speaking four days ago. But now she was tied to a pole next to Luther and Diego while a painfully ordinary man stood over them. He grinned down at her, his smile sharp and predatory.

“My name is Leonard,” He introduced himself with a slight bow, his smirk getting wider, “And Epsilon was incredibly foolish to send you here.”

Allison’s heart rose to her throat at the use of Epsilon, as the puzzle pieces began to click in her mind. Why they’d been captured, why they weren't taken to the infirmary for their injuries, why…

It hadn’t been an Alliance base, they’d gone into.. It was an Aeternalis one. 

Luther reached the same conclusion at the exact same time she did, because he exhaled sharply in fear, “Oh god.”

Leonard grinned at them, all teeth, “Alpha has been looking for Epsilon for a week or so. She’s quite peeved at her little mathematician for leaving her. I’m sure he’ll be punished accordingly. His hands clasped together, “She’ll be thrilled when I tell her I’ve found him.”

“You're not going to tell her anything,” Luther’s voice somehow managed to sound intimidating even as he was strapped down to the floor.

Leonard rolled his eyes, “Of course, I’m going to tell her. It means I’ll have beaten Delta and Kappa at something.” He paused, considering something, “I suppose there’s no hiding it now, hmm? My real name is Zeta,” He lifted his arm with a grin, “You could call me one of your brother’s co-workers.”

Allison narrowed her eyes at him, searching her memories for facts about Zeta as an assassin and what she remembered, she didn’t like. Zeta was known for over the top assassinations and using non traditional weapons, such as hammers and maces. 

Fuck, they were in deep shit, weren’t they..

Zeta/Leonard laughed, throwing his head back, “God, I’m hilarious. Anywho!,” he clapped his hands together, “I’m glad that you are all here! The entire Academy in this base! The base,” he pointed to himself dramatically, “That I just happened to be at as well. What are the odds!”

“Luck,” Luther replied bitterly, “We have the worst luck.”

“Hmm,” Zeta/Leonard, (she’s just going to call him Leonard now), agreed, “You do have bad luck, but your luck is comparatively better than say Seance or White Violin. I may hate you.. But I really, really, really, really,” As he said each ‘really’ his eyes got bigger, “really, really, really hate them. So at least your deaths will be quite painless when compared.”

Luther and Allison exchanged a glance of fear as Leonard began to walk out the door, “I have to get back to Vanya,” The way he said Vanya’s name made Allison want to choke him, “But I’ll be back for you soon! Ciao!” He had the audacity to give them a wave as he left, leaving Luther and Allison speechless.

Then a voice broke the silence.

“What the fuck happened?” asked Diego.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Klaus reevaluates Five's place in his life, Diego is dumb and Vanya is dumber.
> 
> Also, Ben exists.


	25. when you’ve seen me at my worst, i hope you stay around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what I would do  
If I was left alone to my own devices  
I need to fight this  
Sometimes I feel that I'm not acting right  
All my life, I've been acting childish  
Don't mean to be like this
> 
> -Stay Around, American Authors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the quality is slowly declining because I’m just so exhausted. Maybe I need a break or something..

Leonard was taking an impossibly long amount of time to get her cleared from his higher ups. Vanya had counted each second as they ticked by, letting her own thoughts flood her sense until she glanced up at the clock above her head and realized that almost ten minutes had passed by.

Now she was worried. Vanya stood shakily to her feet, trying to get her balance back, But the shakiness of her body took over, letting her collapse back onto the table that she was sitting on. 

Wow her hands hurt. 

Vanya knew in the back of her mind that Five’s powers had caused this unimaginable pain that she was currently enduring, so she found it in her heart to push through the throbbing in her palms. For Five, she would. 

Leonard had told her that he was going to get some medicine for her when he left, but Vanya wondered if her impromptu medical trianon would be able to come in handy here. She stumbled over to the counter that was filled with medical supplies, and carefully began to sort through the numerous bottles, trying to find something that would ease the burns. Quite quickly she found a big bottle in the corner, labeled “good for electrical burns.”

Huh, Leonard must’ve missed this one. She carefully ran through the instructions on the side before grabbing some gauze and bandages with her hand, hissing with the pain that came with grabbing the supplies. Her siblings would probably need this too, she observed as she finished wrapping her hands up, if the amount of burns on them were anything like the ones on her, they were probably in immense pain. 

She finished her wrapping easily, letting the cool medicine cover her palms and she sighed in relief. Mom would be proud of the work she’s done today.

Once she had covered herself up, Vanya realized that there wasn’t really any point to staying here and waiting for Leonard to come back with supplies that she had already used to help herself. Honestly, she was wasting time just sitting here while her siblings could be hurt somewhere. 

She picked up the supplies that she had used to patch herself up and began to slip them all into a small bag she had spotted in the corner of the infirmary. Then, after she was done with that, she wrote Leonard a note.

_ Hey Leonard, Thanks so much for helping me! I found some supplies in the infirmary that can help me with the burns I have. My siblings were also transported to this base the same way I was and I’m afraid they could be hurt similarly to me or maybe even worse. So I’m going to head out and find them first. If you want to find me, I’ll just be around the base looking for my siblings. Thank you for getting us cleared by your bosses! _

_ -Talk to you soon, Vanya. _

She left the room in quite a hurry, ready to find her siblings and make sure that they were ok. Her powers of sound echoed around the halls as she walked, alerting her to the presence of people walking around. Vanya stopped before she headed out into the halls, contemplating. Should she walk around the halls as if she owned the place? Or should she remain invisible?

Well, Leonard might not be done talking to his bosses. So there was a chance that if she simply waltzed around, she would be seen as an intruder and be captured and put into a prison cell, and she didn’t really want that, since it would slow down her search for her siblings. 

Vanya decided to remain invisible until Leonard found her again. She wouldn’t know until much later, how much of a smart decision this was.

* * *

A small moan from where Five was buried in Klaus’s arms made him realize how tight he was holding his brother. He carefully pulled his arms away from Five’s body, just in time to see Five’s eyes open.

“Five?” He asked, letting some of the actual concern he felt for his little brother leak out, “You good?”

Five gazed blearily up at his face, emotions unidentifiable before he gave Klaus a slow shake of his head, wincing as he did so. Klaus could understand where he was coming from with that, those burns across his arms and palms looked pretty severe. Klaus swallowed, releasing Five and scooting back away from him to the point that his back was pressed against the bars on the opposite side of the cell they were in. 

Klaus and Five stared at each other, one in fear the other in contemplation. The silence was so thick that if one of them breathed they could feel the dust on their tongues. Five shrunk down, causing a slight thunking noise as he pressed himself against the walls, as far away from Klaus as he could. Klaus sighed, sharply through his nose.

“Five,” He started, watching his little brother jump at the sound of his voice. Five widened his eyes and gazed up at him, his chin tucked into his best. 

“You killed Dave,” Klaus said and it’s not a question. Five blinked at him, once and then twice and then slowly nodded. 

“I should hate you. I should want you dead. I should want to end you myself for what you did,” Klaus ran his hands through his hair, “But I can’t. I can’t hate you. No matter how much I want to or how much everything tells me I should. You’re my brother and I can’t.”

Five doesn’t move, patiently waiting for Klaus to finish. Klaus took a shaky breath before pushing on, “I looked for you. After you died. I searched for you, I even got sober just to try and find you. Nothing. I thought you were ignoring me or you just hated me or that you had already moved on without even saying goodbye. But even then I still looked. Because I love you.”

Five’s mouth dropped down to the floor and he gaped at Klaus, his eyes not even able to decide on a definite mood to show. Klaus managed to ignore him long enough to keep going on, “But I loved Dave too. And you took him from me. And I can never forgive you for that, even if I was so happy to see that you were ok. I love you, Five, but I love Dave too. And I don’t want to choose between you two.” He could feel be tears dripping down his face and he knew Five could see them too, his eyes (now dark gray) trained on the liquid dripping down Klaus’ face. 

Five swallowed and then spoke, “Then don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t choose.”

“That’s impossible to do.”

Five fell silent, and Klaus watched him do so. Five’s jawline twitched every so often as he thought about Klaus’ conflict. Klaus turned his head away, unable to take the pressure of the silence anymore. 

Why was everything in his life so complicated? Why did getting his brother back have to be at the cost of the person who understood him the best in the entire world? Why did his brother have to be the one who pulled the trigger? Why did everything have to be as bad as it was in one of Ben’s fantasy novels?

“Tell me about him,” said Five suddenly from across the room. Klaus’ head snapped up to meet Five’s. Five gazed back, resolute and strong. 

“Tell me about Dave.” He demanded. Klaus’ teary face slowly turned into a smile, “Ok.”

* * *

“Stop moving, Diego,” hissed Luther through gritted teeth as Diego moved around in the chains, “Every time you do, you hit one of the burns on my arm.”

“Sorry,” Diego said with the tone of someone who was rolling his eyes, “I’m just trying to get the knife in my pants so I can cut this rope.”

“You keep a knife in your pants?” asked Luther, voice shooting up an octave. Diego snorted hard through his nose, “Of course I do.”

“That’s disgusting “ Luther told him, but Allison can see him moving a bit to try and make Diego’s job easier. Diego grunted with the effort of getting his knife out, “Well, it’s saving our hides right now so I would stop complaining if I were you.”

Wisely, Luther shut his mouth and silently watched Diego work. Allison rolled her eyes, settling down against the pole she was strapped to with her idiotic brothers. The only sound was the gentle see-sawing noise of Diego’s knife cutting through the rope and the slight muffled noises of Luther’s coat when he moved. It was oddly peaceful, considering the circumstances.

“What about the others?” asked Luther suddenly, “Five, Klaus and Vanya. We need to find them.”

A string of curses came out of Diego’s mouth as he seemed to come to a similar conclusion, “If they’re somewhere else in the building we need to find them, especially Klaus.”

“Klaus?” asked Luther, “What about him?” Allison groaned internally, wishing she could talk through her gag. Diego’s rhythmic cutting hitched, “Five killed Dave, Luther. And if Klaus is with him…” He doesn’t finish the thought and he doesn’t need to, They’d all seen Klaus’ face when he’d sworn revenge on Dave’s killer. 

Then she noticed Luther was shaking his head, “He’ll be ok. Klaus won’t kill Five.”

For the second time in several minutes, Diego stopped his sawing, “What makes you say that?”

“When Five disappeared, we all looked for him. We thought the body might be faked, and we were right. But Klaus looked just as hard as everyone else. There’s no way he would kill Five.”

“That’s a lot of faith to put into something that happened when we were kids,” Diego observed nonchalantly, “What makes you so sure?”

“Because Klaus wouldn’t do that,” said Luther as if it explained everything, which it didn’t. Diego and Allison exchanged a glance, something passing between the two of them that Luther couldn’t see. Seconds after the glance the rope snapped loudly startling them back into reality. Luther rose to his feet with a grin. Allison stood shakily right behind him, locking eyes with Diego and gesturing to her gag. 

Diego immediately began hacking at her gag, finally exposing her voice to the outside world. 

“Now I know how Five feels.” she said with a deep breath as Diego sighed, dripping his knife down, “Now let’s go find our siblings.”

* * *

Ben was absolutely bored out of his mind. Whenever his siblings were off on a mission it was like this, to be honest, but for some reason he was more bored than normal.

“I’m bored,” he told Mom, as the two of them mixed cookie dough together. She smiled down at him from her bowl of white chocolate macadamia nut, “If you’re bored then you can always do something else.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” He said, swishing sugar cookie around a bowl, “I just wish I didn’t feel so useless.”

“I agree,” she said with another smile, “Watching you kids off fighting always made me feel like that.”

“Really?” he asked, glancing at her in surprise, “I didn't know you felt that way.”

“Uh huh,” she said, staring out the window at the base that his siblings were currently invading. Mom blinked at it, her hands slowly coming to a stop as she continued her stare.

“Ben, sweetheart,” Her voice was raised slightly in alarm, “This doesn’t look like an Alliance base to me.”

“What!?” his voice might’ve come out sharper than intended, because she jumped a bit and then scurried out of the way as he charged toward the window to see an Aeternalis symbol carved into the base doors.

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Klaus and Five escape together. Leonard does some very sketchy things


	26. run, run, keep it steady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One more down  
Two more to go  
How long will you survive?  
The terror here is very very real
> 
> Run Run! CkC9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEET! I’m sorry for being gone, but getting Hotel Oblivion inspired me again to keep writing TUA fics and now i have three other wips rip me.

Luther, Allison and Diego really hadn’t thought out their escape route. Instead, they were doing something that none of them had done in multiple years, known as “practiced improvisation” which is sort of an oxymoron, but still was a good name for the technique itself.

Basically they were running as fast as they could down the halls and decimating everyone in their way.

“I heard a rumor that you ran away!” Allison shouted directly in the face of the man holding her a chokehold. He immediately dropped her and turned tail and ran. Diego flung a knife at his retreating back, hitting him on the leg and incapacitating him for the moment. He studied the man on the floor with an impassive expression before finally sighing and turning to Luther, “We need an actual plan.”

“This is our actual plan,” Luther informed him, “We’re looking for our family.”

“Oh?” Allison said quietly, her hand still pressed against her throat, “I thought we were going to inform Ben about the base.”

“We’re doing that too,” Luther said, absentmindedly sticking his hand out. A heavily armed guy ran around a nearby corner shouting until his face collided with Luther’s arm and he slumped to the floor. Allison watched him go with a small smirk, Diego shook his head and waved his arms, trying to clear his head, “We need an actual order for our plan, we can’t just keep running around this place like dizzy chickens. If we’re supposed to be a team then we should be organized about to.”

Allison cocked her head, listening for the sounds of footsteps, “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I agree. We need to set our priorities.”

“Our priority is finding the others,” Luther decided on the spot, “We need to make sure the others can get out. We don’t know if Leonard has them or not,” He swung his arm again, this time taking out a person that had been attempting to sneak up on him from behind, “But especially Five, if Leonard gets his hands on Five, then the Aeternalis will try to mind control him again.”

Diego’s angry expression deepened slightly and he grunted, “I’ll kill them if they try.”

Allison scoffed to herself and began to scan the area around them. Diego was an absolutely terrible liar. She’d watched him for the past couple of days, analyzing his behavior around the tense situation between Klaus and Five. It had been obvious to her from the start, that he supported Klaus in his silence more than Five, but slowly over the past couple of days she’d noticed that Diego was supporting Five as well, in his own assholey way.

Her smile feels tight when she replied to him, “I’ll help you with that Dee.”

He grinned back, not sensing her double meaning. He’s so stupid, she chuckled to herself, but she can’t help but appreciate it.

* * *

Klaus’ voice is nice, Five reasoned to himself as he leaned against the bars of his prison, It’s nice to hear him sound so happy and soft and sentimental. And, of course, Five took that all away from him, because why not?

He’s an awful, awful person. Five trailed his finger across one of the scars on his palm, he doesn’t remember where it came from, only that he had it when he woke up. Probably from some other person, whose life he ripped away from them and their family.

“Five?” said Klaus’ voice and Five jumped slightly, glancing up at him, “Yes?”

“Are you ok?” There’s something unidentifiable in Klaus’s tone, as if though Klaus doesn’t even know what it is. Klaus’ green eyes shimmer slightly and Five shook his head, not as an answer but as a refusal or inability to speak. He drooped his head down with a sigh, eyeing the corridor, waiting for the approaching footsteps of the man who would eventually bring them some food. Five fiddled with his shoes, his hands expertly maneuvering around his own shoelaces.

He doesn’t even see it coming.

Five was on top of the guy before he can even blink.

He doesn’t feel bad about it though, because he’s doing it for Klaus. A high-pitched squeak came from Klaus’ general area as Five warped on top of man giving them their food, his shoelaces wrapped around the guy’s throat pinning him to the floor. The only sound was the heavy panting of Five, and the wheezing of the man on the floor, gasping for breath. Five, a bit crazed, held him there until the guy passed out from lack of air. His knees slightly shaking together, Five pried the keys of the man’s belt and dangled the keys from his finger, shooting Klaus a smirk.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Klaus’s shell-shocked expression landed on the unconscious man on the floor before he seemed to realize that Five was serious. A small smile formed on his face, “Let’s do it.”

The next few minutes are some of the most fun and frantic of Klaus’ life which is saying something considering he’s been in literal space battles before. Five charged ahead of him, his shoelaces still clutched in his tiny fist as though they were some sort of trophy. Whenever another guy clad in all black rounded the corner, Five met them teeth bared with his shoelaces waving in the air like a weird little flag.

Something Klaus appreciated while watching Five work was that he wasn’t killing people. No matter what bodies littered the floor around the halls, they were all still alive, only unconscious. And after each man went down, Five would glance back at Klaus’ face almost searching for approval before he attacked the next man. It was nice to be looked after, even if it was from a teenager with an apparent affinity for fighting with shoelaces. There’s a loud clatter as Five shoved another person into the wall, letting them slide down onto the floor in a heap.

Klaus followed behind Five’s trail of destruction, picking up the weapons that each person was holding in their grip. He soon ended up with a massive pile of deadly things in his hands, almost dragging them down the hall. He moved after Five in an almost mechanical fashion as the popping sounds of Five’s warping thundered in his ears and the shouts of the men that met his brother’s furious rampage followed suite. 

It was oddly the most peaceful thing that had happened between Klaus and Five in a long while, not even the conversation they’d had in the jail cell was as calming as this. Klaus supposed its was due to talking and words left unspoken. Talking almost always lead to confusion, actions were much simpler. He watched Five land on top of another man with a shriek, taking notice of the rough burns across Five’s palms. It must hurt so bad, he thought of the similar ones streaking down his own hands. And then he saw it.

There was someone behind Five, with a softly glowing blue block in their hand. Klaus couldn’t exactly see what it was from where he was positioned, but it didn’t look like something he’d ever want near himself. 

“Five!” He shouted, trying to get his brother’s attention. Five looked at him, not loosening the grip he had on the person he was currently on top of. His little brow was furrowed and exasperated almost as if he was asking Klaus, “why are you screaming at me right now?”

Klaus suddenly found himself unable to speak. 

Instead he pulled his arm from the pile of weapons clutched in his grasp and pointed some unknown gun at the man who  _ dared.  _ Dared to try and shoot Five. And he pulled the trigger.

He could hear the boom of the bullet before he saw the man fall to the floor, twitching. Five, strapped onto the shoulders of the man he was in the middle of fighting, gaped at him. His entire jaw twitched before he warped off the man, landing on the floor. His eyes were dilated and the only sound was the rattling of his chest. 

“Klaus,” he said and it’s enough to make Klaus snap out of whatever funk he’s in. 

“Yea?”

“You good?”

His mouth is thick with spit and for the first time, Klaus can feel his tongue in the back of his throat. He tried to swallow all the liquid building in his mouth and managed to gulp in all down in a very loud and gross fashion.

“I think so,” he managed to say. Five shot him a disbelieving glance just as the pounding of more feet echoed down the hallways approaching the one that they were currently in.

“We need to go,” Five said, his pace picking up as he brushed back Klaus’ still-standing form, “Before that happens again.”

“Right,” Klaus said, finally dropping the weapon on the floor with a clatter, oddly grateful for Five’s level-head during this entire event. He spun on his heel, running after his tiny assassin brother who was already halfway across the next hall, his boots clacking on the floor. 

This turned out to be quite a bad decision because as they rounded the next corner, they ran into another massive crowd of Aeternalis soldiers. Five skidded to a halt as he took in the people standing in his way, their guns trained on his body. Klaus, who had been glancing behind him, almost reminiscing on the person he’d just shot, collided with Five’s heels due to his abrupt stop. Five tripped, stumbling forward and then the air was alight with gunfire. 

It only took Klaus a second to dive away backwards, shielding himself with the wall. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to spot where Five had gone. It didn’t take long for Five to appear again, this time from above the crowd. It was obvious where he’d gone to, there was now a long baton in his hand from the pile of weapons Klaus had laid on the floor a couple of hallways before. He met Klaus’s eyes with a scowl and a jerk of his head toward the mass of soldiers. 

Klaus mouthed back, “Seriously?”

Five grinned back.

Klaus rose to his feet, muttering a couple of choice words in his brother’s direction before he spread his arms, summoning from deep within his gut, all the spirits lurking around the area. 

It doesn’t take long before the entire hallway is flooded with the blue hues of angry spirits. Five’s grin gets bigger.

The noise was insane as Klaus fell to the floor with the loud screeches of triumph as the ghosts realized that they could attack the people. Five watched from above the chaos, clinging onto a vent for dear life as the ghosts tore through the mass of soldiers below. As the rampage slowed, Five dropped onto the floor, oddly reminiscent of a cat jumping off a couch and slowly approached Klaus. 

He silently took Klaus’ hand and hugged him around his waist, Klaus compiling only because his legs felt like jelly and he wanted to collapse on the floor at any given moment. His hand found Five’s hair and he carded through it, desperate for any feeling to ground him in reality. 

They stood there together until they heard a small patter of footsteps behind them and a soft female voice calling out, “Hey guys.”

Both Five and Klaus turned to see Vanya fade into existence, Klaus immediately letting go of Five. But he knew Vanya had seen them together, simply because she shot him a knowing look. 

She headed over to Five, taking his hands in her and quietly asked him if he was ok and if he was hurt. He shook his head at her, his color changing eyes stuck on Klaus. 

“Well,” Klaus said, with a quick glance down the next hall, “Hate to break up this lovely moment, but.”

The sound of a cocking gun burned through their ears and the three of them turned, ready to fight again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: The Hargreeves continue wrecking shit


	27. karma comes back around like the taste of regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now repercussions  
Mean everything to me  
It's always darkest right  
Right where it needs to be
> 
> Bury Me, Breathe Carolina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY!
> 
> I LOVE THIS STORY  
I JUST HAVE BEEN VERY STRESSED AND UGGGHH
> 
> anyways, plot happens here
> 
> tw: cause some people are killed by Vanya, Luther and Diego

The massive sense of relief when Vanya had seen Five and Klaus in the hallways together and neither of them dead, overpowered her every emotion. As the mass group of soldiers appeared in the opposite hallway, aiming their guns straight at her brothers who were already slick with sweat and blood, she let her anger rise and expand. 

Her arms spread and she unleashed her fury. 

The entire building rattled and chunks of the ceiling fell onto the floor, landing with a spray of dust and other unknown materials. Five squeaked in alarm from behind her but she didn’t lose her concentration, instead crushing the building in her fist with a grin.

“Vanya,” said a whispery voice from behind her, “Vanya.”

She ignored it, pushing harder through her gut. This entire place was going to go down for hurting her brothers, she was going to see to that. 

“Vanya!” the whispery voice grew stronger, “Vanya, Stop!”

Stop? Why would she stop? She was so close to destroying this building. Her brain rolled around her head, creating fog and dust as it went. She was missing something wasn’t she? 

“Vanya! We haven’t found the others yet!” shouted a voice she knew. Vanya knew that voice. It sounded familiar.

Klaus.

The others.

Five.

She instantly retracted her powers, pulling them deep inside her and shoving them down as hard as she could. Her eyes faded back to brown and she sighed, dropping her arms down with the weight of her abilities. 

Vanya looked behind her to see Klaus, standing almost directly behind her, arms raised like he had been preparing to knock her out to stop the shaking. Five stood a good few feet away, curled into his stomach and looking at his blood-soaked hands with shattered eyes.

Klaus set his arms down and breathed out shakily, “Vanya. You. You could have.”

“Yea, but I didn’t,” she snapped back with a glare at him and Five, even if Five didn’t even see it, she still felt the need to defend her choices. 

Five turned away from her and began to search through the bodies of the men and women she mowed down with her powers, his movements stiff and tired as though he’s resigned himself to his fate. Vanya blinked away the water in her eyes forming after her stunt that almost pulled down the building and spun around to confront Klaus, who was way too close to her for comfort.

“They were going to kill Five,” She spat at him, “I only did it for him.” She turned away before she could see the resoundly heartbroken look on Klaus’ face, heading over to her younger brother and placing a hand on his slumped shoulder.

“You ok?” She asked as Five looked up at her, eyes swirling with mixed colors and by extension, emotions. He tugged his shoulder out of her grasp, “Yea,” he mumbled, trying to walk away, but she can see the hitch in his gait so she moved quickly to stand in front of him.

“Here,” she gently coaxed him to hold his hands out to her and she almost burst into tears when she saw the thick red, blistering burns down his palms. As she spread the ointment she’d grabbed from the medical area across his hands, she whispered, “You don’t have to prove yourself, Five. You deserve to be here, just as much as anyone else.”

Five’s eyes slid over to where Klaus was awkwardly waiting for them at the end of the hall, his hands wringing.

“Right,” he said, voice still raspy and thin and distant as though he could barely register what was right in front of him.

Vanya resolved to make sure he didn’t have to be in pain while traipsing the labyrinth of the army base that they were in, so she scooped him up with a grunt- he was a bit heavier than he looked- and headed over to Klaus with her arms full of weakly protesting little brother.

“I asked the guy who treated my burns to alert the authorities that we are here, so we should be in the clear,” She told Klaus with a flat voice.

Klaus raised an eyebrow and said, “That’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done in your life.”

Hot indignation rose through her throat and she adjusted her grip on Five, who was still fighting her with all the strength of an utterly beaten thirteen year old. 

“What the fuck is your problem? First, you’re being a bitch to everyone around you, then you’re being a bitch to our mind-controlled little brother and now to me? What the fuck, Klaus?”

Klaus shushed her with a scowl, “I’m not being a bitch, I'm saying that you shouldn't have done that because this isn’t _ our  _ base.”

“What?”

Klaus pointed to the symbol engraved on the wall next to him, sticking out against the sharp white with the utter wrongness of its existence and she cursed herself for being so distracted that she’d missed the symbol earlier. Her grip on Five’s body tightened as she realized where she was and who the people in this building were and what they had done.

An Aeternalis base.

She was so stupid.

But Leonard.

He’d known, she recalled, remembering the odd gleam in his eyes as he bandaged her burns and the soft tone he’d taken with her, almost babying and condescending in it’s flow. He’d known and she’d  _ liked  _ him.

Five shook against her, his arms slowly wrapping around her as the shock that he’d been operating in wore off, leaving a very scared kid behind. Vanya realized with a sharp anger that Five shouldn't be here, because if anyone of these people got their hands on him again, he’d lose his mind again.

Klaus spoke, drawing her out of her revenge plots, “We need to find the others and get the hell out of here.”

She nodded, drawing a shaking Five close to her and feeling her powers pulse through her body.

“Then I can blow this place up.”

* * *

There was something so amazingly transfixing about the fight that Diego and the others found themselves locked in at the moment. Every swipe of his knife and every blast from whatever weapon the gunman were carrying felt as though it was moving in slow motion, and Diego could feel the air shifting with every shout and boot scuffle. It was as though his senses were heightened and exaggerated to the point where he was several places at once.

He was with Allison when she smashed her boot into the fact of a man who’d called her sweetheart, spitting on his corpse. He found himself moving with Luther as one of his arms went flying through a nearby wall with the amount of force he put into his punch.

He laughed in spite of himself as his knife cut through the neck of the person he was battling.

Eudora always told him that he was prone to excessive force and violence when it came to stuff like this, fighting and planning his next fight.

“You’re just like your father,” she’d said one time, “You don’t care about the casualties as long as something gets done.”

He scoffed at her assessment of his character, he was nothing like his old man! He was much better, if you asked him, at least he didn’t hurt children. Besides, what did Eudora know about him, he did care about the people who died for him.

It’s as he’s slashing the throat of some random Aeternalis soldier that he realized she might have a point. 

But that’s war, isn’t it?

Behind him Luther finished off the last in the group that had come for their hinds with a sickening crunch, grunting as he stood and gingerly stepping over the rest of the bodies. 

“We need a plan, Diego,” he said as though Diego hadn’t spent a long time bothering him about actually making one. Diego scouted the other hallway with his eyes, refusing to look his brother in the eyes, “You think?”

“I’m just saying-” Luther’s cut off as the hallway is flooded with red light and the shriek of an alarm system.

Allison came up behind them with a sigh that can only be described as pretty, “About time.”

“Not good,” Diego agreed, listening carefully as the sound of boots echo down the halls and the approach of too many soldiers to fight seemed imminent. He braced himself for impact, taking note on how many knives he had left - 7 - and how many doors in the hall - 3 - and how many people he had to keep safe - 2 - before there’s a pull on his elbow and he’s dragged in through one of the doors with a growl.

“What the hell, Allison!” He shouted at her as her hand lingered on his elbow, “I had that!”

“No you didn’t,” She replied, amusement in her tone, “You would get trampled and you know it.”

The crunch of metal echoed behind him and Diego spun to see Luther bending and weaving a pole through the doors, effectively locking them in there. Diego pushed down another rush of misplaced anger at his brother, “You just locked us in here!”

“And we’re safe now,” Luther shot back, heading over to what looked like a light switch on the wall, “I can only hope the others remember their training and get into a room too. We’re going to wait it out.” With that he flicked the switch.

The lights don’t come on or anything, instead there’s a whir of technology and behind them a tank full of some unknown liquid glows a light blue. They all whip around, staring at the tank, none of them too excited to get closer to it.

Eventually, Luther goes first, followed by Allison, her hands pressed against his back as though she’s using him as a human shield. Diego scoffed at her cowardice and took his spot at his brother’s left shoulder. They approached the tank together.

As they got closer, Diego could make out a couple of things about the tank that threw him for a loop. First off, there's a helmet next to it, small and made of multiple metal parts. It looks exceedingly painful, especially if you happen to have a big head. 

Diego picked it up, turning it over in his gloved hands and finally, finds a label that he can read on the side.

“Think Tank.”

His first thought was that was an utterly stupid name for a helmet before he noticed the same name on the side of the actual tank itself. What the fuck?

He said that out loud too as he slowly got closer to the tank, reading the names for the buttons on the side of the tank. Some he couldn’t understand, they were immensely complicated formulas that only someone like Five or Ben could understand. But some were immediate causes for concern, such as the label that read, “Electric Shock” or the other one “Ice.”

“What the hell is this for?” He asked his siblings as they poke around the other parts of the machine, almost tripping over his words as he did when he was a child, “Why would the Aeternalis need something like this?”

Allison came around the corner, holding a small sheet in her hands and a sick look on her face, holding it out to him with the expression of someone who found a dead skunk.

“I might have an idea,” she said as Luther lumbered over curiously, trying to figure out why the sheet was so important.

Diego took the sheet with a grimace and as he held it in his hands, he realized it wasn’t a sheet but instead some sort of hospital gown with rust-red dried bloodstains across it.

His breath caught in his throat when he saw the label on the back, so much that he can’t talk.

“It-t-t-t s-s-sa-sa-sa,” He tried but Luther gets quite fed up with waiting for Diego’s mouth to catch up with his brain because he ripped it out of Diego’s grasp.

“Zeta?” He asked aloud, reading the gown with a question in his tone, “Wasn’t that the guy that-?”

Allison nodded, her face paler than Diego had ever seen it. Luther frowned, staring at the gown as though it would answer his questions for him, “But if we hate him then why-?”

Diego tuned him out, looking at Allison’s sheet-like complexion and knows she’s come to the same conclusion he has.

If one Aeternalis assassin has this.

Who’s to say they all don’t?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time:
> 
> NO SPOILERS


	28. dude’ll kill you for no reason, and charge you for treason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanna tattoo you on me  
Just look what you created  
Dear future self, I hope it’s going well  
I’m drunk on cheap whiskey in an airport hotel, yeah
> 
> Dear Future Self (Hands Up), Fall Out Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd like to think that this chapter title is very telling of the chaos about to unfold.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that they’re outnumbered. 

“We’re outnumbered!” shouted Five’s voice, thin and wheezy. He can barely be heard over the throbbing noises of Vanya’s powers and the loud shots of the guns. Klaus can see him, only just barely by the blue flash of his powers and the awful crack every time Five slammed the pole he’d found into a person’s knees.

There’s movement behind Klaus and he spun around to see a gun pointed at him. Only his fast reflexes saved his life. His hand jolted sharply out to smack the gun upwards, firing a bullet into the ceiling. A small cloud of dust fell onto Klaus’s brown curls, but he barely noticed it as he bolted for the next person charging at him.

Klaus found himself next to Five in the surge of people around them. His little brother’s breaths are coming out as heavy pants, there’s a smear of blood across his cheek and Klaus can see sweat dripping from his hair. But the most concerning thing for Klaus was the look on Five’s face.

It’s so blank and dead that if Klaus had not touched Five earlier, he would’ve assumed Five was a part of the crowd of ghosts that was steadily increasing around them. And Klaus realized with a shocking white-hot bolt that he never wanted to see Five with that expression ever again, even if he was still conflicted over his feelings on his tiny brother.

“Five,” Klaus said, hoping to keep his voice quiet so the throng of soldiers around won’t hear, “We need to get out of here now. Can you teleport us out?”

Five doesn’t appear to hear him and Klaus is just about to repeat himself to his brother when he spotted Five’s eyes darting between the fight happening around them, the burns across his palms and Klaus himself.

Klaus recognized that look from a mission that involved a massive amount of hostages. There had been too many choices that Reginald had laid out for them, each involving a risk and a gain. Five had taken too long to decide what and who he was going to teleport out, and had paid the price for it, resulting in the scar across Diego’s nose and a knife in his side.

Five doesn’t know what to do, He’s overwhelmed and probably in way over his head for a thirteen-year old that recently regained control over his mind.

Klaus registered this in a moment and recalled a similar expression on Five before they had teleported inside the base and cursed himself for not noticing earlier. What had he been doing? Why was he so blind?

Actually, why had Five even agreed to this in the first place?

It takes almost a minute for him to realize that Five was doing it for him. For his trust. For his acceptance.

And Klaus’ heart broke just a little bit, a loud cracking sound from Five’s aggressive pole pounding matching eerily well with the moment the thought occurred to him.

He blinked, finally coming to his senses, just in time to duck under a swipe of a knife. He swung his fist to the side, colliding with the person who’d slashed at him, a grunt coming from their lips as Klaus’ fist connected.

He needed to get away from all of this, so he could focus. The ghosts had begun to scream as they came to the conclusion that they were dead. The suffocating screeches, combined with the sharp clang of the metal pole and Vanya’s wailing powers, were starting to have an effect on Klaus’ head as a migraine began to form.

He slid past another group of soldiers, trying to get up higher to give himself a good vantage point to see over the masses of people. There’s not much in the halls to clamber on top of, so Klaus improvised, using his levitation to soar above the crowds.

It’s only when he’s high above the mob of people that he can see an escape route, a rather ominous-looking heavy metal door.

It’s so creepy-looking that Klaus instantly knew that there was no way he was getting both Five and Vanya to follow his lead into there.

But they don’t have that much of a choice.

“Five! Vanya!” Klaus shouted above the crowd, trying to get their attention. He can’t tell if they hear him, heck he can barely hear himself over the cacophony of noises around him, “There’s a door about 300 feet to the right, try and get inside!”

He adjusted his own powers for a second, giving himself time to gather the momentum to propel himself to the door. As he sailed overhead, he caught a brief glimpse of Vanya running after him, her hands outstretched as the crowd parted in front of her. He can’t see Five anywhere, but a shout of surprise from behind him kept him hoping his little brother was ok.

Klaus made it to the door first, falling into a heap in front of it. He pulled himself to his feet as quickly as he could, just as Vanya reached him, her mousy brown hair shiny with sweat. Her eyes glinted unnaturally in the dim hall they’ve been fighting in, an after-effect of using her powers for too long.

Klaus remembered that this is the first time Vanya has actively used her powers since Five’s disappearance.

Speaking of Five, the kid himself appeared behind them with a sharp crack and the strong smell of ozone. Klaus can’t recall if Five’s powers normally come with that smell but he was pretty sure that Five only made a small popping noise when he ripped through time and space. 

The kid was lathered in sweat and the burns on his palms that had started to look a bit better had grown worse, like a sort of infection. His eyes are only one color, a sort of blue-gray that betrayed his exhaustion.

He breathed wheezily and heavily, not even able to catch his breath as Klaus turned his attention back to the door, wrenching it open. The crowd of soldiers that they had left behind were now turning to face them, determined to keep the fight going.

“Hell nope,” Vanya said, the first words she had said in a while before charging into the doorway, Five limping behind her. All three of them spun around, instantly slamming the door closed as the thump of multiple bodies hitting the door sounded from the other side.

“Fuck,” Klaus muttered aloud, not sure how else to react. 

Vanya swatted at him, almost playfully, “Don’t swear in front of the child!”

Klaus bit his lip, unwilling to tell her that Five is definitely not a child in the right sense of the word. Instead, he slid his gaze towards Five himself, who’s swaying back and forth, dead on his feet.

Klaus leaned down, placing himself in front of Five and gently taking his brother’s hands. He turned to Vanya as she stared at him, her eyes still losing their odd white sheen. She smiled at him, warmly, the warmest smile he’s gotten from her the entire time he’s been with her.

“Come on, Five,” He said, attempting to pull Five away from the door as his little brother’s breaths become even less sturdy than they were before. He tugged on Five’s arm, trying to get his feet moving, but Five was shock-still, frozen in place.

Vanya noticed it first, which was stupid since Klaus was literally in front of Five’s face.

“Klaus..”

“What?”

She came over to him, leaning over to look Five in the eyes with concern, but her concern quickly moved into horror.

“Klaus, I don’t think he’s here.” Her hands moved towards Five’s shaking body, trying to comfort him in some way but not knowing how to without sending Five into another wave of panic.

“Five?” She asked carefully, trying to pull him out of wherever he is, “Five? Can you hear me?”

It took Klaus less than a second to join her, both of them desperately saying Five’s name in an attempt to reach him.

* * *

When the mask is finally ripped off his face, Five breathed like he’s never done before, panting and wheezing as cold air rushed back into his deprived lungs. Tears burn down the sides of his cheeks as he recalled being forced backwards, staring at his sister’s screaming face as he did nothing to stop himself from being dragged away from his family.

He was alone now. The men who’d pulled him here were gone, leaving him alone and trapped in a crisp white room, appearance untouched by hands. The only spot of color in the room is the symbol burned into the building wall, slightly above his eye level.

The Aeternalis.

Five knew instantly that he wouldn’t be getting out of here alive.

He was numb, he couldn’t feel his fingers or his arms or his body or… Tears slip down the sides of his face, faster and faster.

For all his arrogance, for all the battles and the bodies, he’s seen in his relatively short life. Five doesn’t want to die.

He doesn’t want to die and leave his family alone with that monster of a man, he doesn’t want to die and abandon everyone who’s ever cared about them, he doesn’t want to die. He ran through this mantra, over and over and over, trying to calm himself and stop the tears that continued to drip, as though they’re mocking everything that he’s been trained to endure over his life. 

He’s not sure how long he laid there on the floor but he does know when he can finally associate colors with their names and sounds with what they belong to, there’s a sharp clack outside his door.

He’s only heard high heels a number of times because of Grace and Klaus so it takes him a bit to pull himself together enough to remember that these are high heels heading towards him. He stood up, albeit woozily, his legs shaking and his hands thrumming at his sides and waited for the approaching person to enter the only door.

Even though he was staring at the door with the fury of a thousand suns, he was still taken aback when the door opened, revealing a woman in a slinky black dress. In her arms she carried a chair and she gently set it down in front of him, placing herself on the seat and smiling at him, with a mysterious twinkle in her eyes. 

“Hello Number Twenty-Three,” She said, not a single emotion flickering through her cool mask. Five watched her, scanning her to make sure she wasn’t going to attack or kill him, when her words washed over his head.

“What?”

She puffed some air out of her ruby-red lips and crossed her legs, “Of course, you would not know that, would you?” She paused, eyes trailing down the wall before looking back at him, “You think you’re the fifth.”

He shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to respond to this, confusion flooding his entire body. He hated being confused, it loosened his control over himself. His eyes darted from side to side, trying to find a way to escape.

“Let’s make one thing clear,” She leaned forward in her chair, uncrossing her legs to give herself more leverage to look him in the eyes, “You are no longer an Academy member.”

If it was possible to feel even more confused than he already was, Five was achieving the impossible. “I’ll always be an Academy member!” He blurted, hot indignation interrupting his sense of confusion.

“I’m sure you will,” She agreed, “To the people who will remember you. But you aren’t that anymore. Your father choose you to gift to me in exchange for my silence, so here you are.” She raised her arms, moving them to her sides as though she’s revealing a massive secret. Five is vaguely reminded of Klaus.

“I wanted the rumor girl.” She told him, her gaze cold, “But you were my second choice, so I suppose I have to go with it.” She sighed, “Oh well.”

“What?” He croaked, unsure of exactly what’s happening, “What about Allison?”

“Twenty-Three,” She said, ignoring his question and staring at him, “Or Five. Or whatever you are. I’ll have you know that you’re annoying me with your nagging, Did your father teach you nothing?”

“Uh,” He could feel his legs shaking harder, he was probably going to collapse any time soon, “Apparently not.”

Instead of a familiar curl of her lips that would remind him of his father, she simply chuckled, “I suppose we won’t have to worry about that soon enough.”

Five’s insides go cold at the callous way she referenced his own demise, the tears that had stop flooding a couple of minutes ago, threaten to come back. He barely managed to whisper one of the many questions on his mind, “What are you going to do to me?”

She grinned back, almost as though sharing a secret between the two of them, “Nothing you will care about soon enough.”

His insides curl in on themselves and it takes everything in him to not collapse into the floor and beg for her to let him go. He doesn’t want to beg, so he does the opposite, meeting her eyes with all the hate he can muster. His legs shake and he can feel the drying tear tracks on his face. The woman doesn’t flinch, only looking at him as though he were a kitten that was trying to nibble at her fingers.

She smiled, her lips stretching unnaturally. He can tell from the lack of smile lines on her face that the expression isn’t one she does often. 

“I’m glad I got you, Twenty-Three.” She said cryptically. Five had to do a double-take at the name she called him, being that it was so different from his own.

“Twenty-Three?” He asked, his voice feeling smaller than he would’ve liked it too, “My name is Five, not.”

“But you aren’t the fifth,” She interrupted him with a wave of her hand, “You were the twenty-third one considered for the Academy.”

“One? As in..” The roof of Five’s mouth was dry, “The forty-three children born on that day.”

“Only seven remain, Twenty-Three. One for each planet, keeping the balance. Your father was a calculating man, the only way to both control the Academy by keeping the amount of members small and keep the people happy. Have you ever wondered what happened to the ones who weren't good enough for his little stunt?” She was leaning towards him now, closer and closer to the point where he could smell her sickly, rotting flower perfume.

“Your father killed them, Twenty-Three.”

“Course.” Her thin smiles gets wider, “That won’t be your name for much longer.”

He barely managed to open his mouth to ask her what she meant by that, to ask her how she knew what had happened to the other children, to break down crying at the horrifying revelation that he’d left his siblings all alone in a house with a man that had killed 36 children, when her eyes flashed, cold and burning, piercing into his soul and scooping out his insides. He was hollow, an empty cup waiting to be filled.

Then Five felt no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: We check in with Ben


	29. you break me down, you build me up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Singing from heartache from the pain  
Taking my message from the veins  
Speaking my lesson from the brain  
Seeing the beauty through the PAIN
> 
> -Believer, Imagine Dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All i can say is
> 
> Sorry Ben Stans.

“Five?”

“Five?”

“Five?”

There’s no response. 

Vanya doesn’t know what scared her more. Five’s dull gaze as he stared at nothing or his breaths, sickly and almost nonexistent. Blood dripped off his face in slow motion and Vanya found herself grasping at his shoulders, desperate to pull him back to her. 

“Vanya.” A voice sounded behind her, but all she can see her little brother’s face as tears unknowingly slip past his cheeks. She pulled him closer to her, pressing her face into his matted and sweaty hair and rocking him back and forth.

“Vanya!’ The voice is more sharp this time, but she closes her eyes. If she can’t see it then it won’t matter. Five’s body shook with the force of her arms wrapped around him, but his hitching breath doesn’t slow, in fact in only seemed to pick up as she held him closer. 

“Five?” She asked him, able to feel her own tears slipping down her face. He didn’t respond.

She barely remembered that Klaus was there too, until he spoke, his voice thin, “Vanya, get away from him.”

She pulled away from her brother, ready to open her mouth and scream at Klaus. His attitude over the last couple of days toward their little brother has been nothing but poor and she’s about had enough of it. A small part of her that she buried deep within, however, understood why Klaus felt that way, but she had made sure to tuck that part away into the parts of herself that she had smothered since she’d turned seventeen and knew she shouldn’t hold grudges against anyone but the man who’d ruined her family’s life.

But there's something in his eyes that stopped her rampage. A numb understanding.

She backed off, watching Five’s tiny chest shutter a couple of times before it started to move deeper than it had. The tension in his body leaked out and he sunk to the floor, not entirely asleep but also not fully conscious. 

Klaus only blinked at her when she looked at him, a question burning in her eyes. Klaus doesn’t answer her or he ignored her, one of the two. Either way, Klaus walked away from Five and Vanya, pressing one of his hands against the door. Vanya watched him go, half crumpled on the floor and unsure of where she’s supposed to be right now. He clicked his tongue after a moment and pulled away.

“We need to move,” He said, a crease in his brows. She can’t tell if it’s a stressed one or a worried one, “There’s movement outside which means that they’re getting something to ram this door down. We should take advantage of that.”

“Ok,” She agreed instantly, “But what about Five?”

Klaus’s eyes darted towards Five who was still catching his breath but slowly coming to. The only sound for a second were the murmurs of the mind-controlled soldiers guarding their only escape and Five’s labored breathing.

“I’ll carry him,” Klaus decided, his gaze still on Five, “We need him to get out of this shithole.”

Vanya rose to her feet as Klaus carefully headed over to Five, kneeling down to look at Five’s face. She opened her mouth to stammer out a question just as Klaus apparently decided to scoop Five into a fireman’s carry.

“Careful!” She said, finding herself instantly at Klaus’ side to try and steady Five. Klaus waved her off with a quick flash of his “Goodbye’ hand.

His voice a bit smaller than before, he grunted, “I got it. You just gotta take out anyone that gets in our way.”

A rumbling sound started on the other side of the metal door, as the group of people collectively decided that they weren’t willing to wait around for whatever mechanical marvel was going to break down the door for them.Vanya took to the sound instantly, letting her body absorb it and she stepped out in front of Klaus, her hands raised.

The blinding white that always accompanied her powers flared past her eyelids and she found herself grinning despite the circumstances. Klaus only grumbled in slight discomfort behind her as the intensity of the lights grew and grew, before the entire door was ripped off its hinges and flew down the hall with a painful screech.

The mob parted to make way for the door, almost absently staring as it nearly decapitated some of them. Vanya stepped into the door frame that was smoking slightly at the edges from the intensity of her powers.

She could barely see past the lens flare her powers gave her, but the anger from the mob was almost palpable in her mouth.

She grinned again.

* * *

Luther could hardly register what was happening. His hands were still scraped and raw from Five’s powers and his feelings were so mixed and muddled together that he felt like his insides all blurred into each other.

Diego dropped the small hospital gown onto the floor with a repulsed expression. The gown fluttered onto the floor, unaware of the horror on the Hargreeves’ faces. Quickly, they turned their attention away from the gown to the small tank that they had dismissed so quickly, now knowing the implications that their little assassin brother had had one similar. 

“We need to get out of here,” Allison warned, backing away from the tank and towards the barred door, “We need tp get out of here right fucking now.” Her voice shook with emotion and it was clear she was thinking of Five trapped in that tank again, unable to think of anything but the thoughts shoved into his brain.

“A-a-a-agreed,” stammered Diego, his childhood difficulty coming back in the stress of the moment. He took a halting step backwards, his hand on one of the knives in his holster as if that could protect him from the thoughts of suffering slashed across his mind. 

They abandon the tank, helmet and gown in the dark corner and head back towards the door from whence they came, all stuck in their own little place. As Luther reached for the door and began to pry the bar off of the door, Allison spoke, “Do you think they all had to go through that?”

Luther only pulled harder at the bar in a way of responding but Diego shook his head.

“If they all used one, then we would’ve noticed it before. We’ve been fighting for so long, it would be almost impossible to hide enough of these things to power the whole army.” 

“Then these things are just for assassins.”

“Probably.”

“What do you think the name means?”

Allison had no idea, judging from the look on her face. Luther wrenched the last section of bar off the door and pressed his shoulder against it, all the while his face was stuck in the same expression, general cluelessness.

Diego figured out his question by himself, “Maybe it has something to do with that Aeternalis plan he mentioned?”

“The Apocalypse,” Allison exhaled, the name having been on the tip of her tongue ever since Five had stammered his way through that first interrogation. Her heart leapt in its throat and the darkness of the room seemed a million times more encompassing. She was suddenly very aware of the tank behind her, with its ugly red letters and bloodstains.

Apocalypse. 

“The end of everything,” she defined it, letting the word’s bitter taste melt off her tongue. Her brothers stared at her, unable to see it the way she does. Allison was a politician, one of the very best. Her looks and rumors had gotten her far in the vicious, often exhausting world of politics. So she knew better than anyone that a name, slogan, would have many meanings.

For the life of her, she couldn’t figure this one out.

The door flew open suddenly, a wave of cool air passing over the three of them and Allison wondered when so many soldiers had gotten there, all of them turning around like clockwork to charge at her and her family.

Her mouth dropped, ready to dispense the words she had said her whole life, but before she could do that, the entire ceiling rumbled. The soldier she had been about to rumor looked up too, in confusion, telling her whatever the Aeternalis’ plan was, this wasn’t it.

She took the opportunity to kick-box the guy in the head. He crumbled like a leaf and she shoved all of her energy into her legs, surging past her brothers towards the end of the hallway. From the grunts next to her and the sharp singing of knives slicing through the air, her brothers were right on her tail.

However long she ran for she didn’t know, but she let the rumors pile up as the corridors grew steadily longer and longer.

_ I heard a rumor you fired at your squad. _

_ I heard a rumor that you were scared of everything _

_ I heard a rumor that you shot your friend in the foot. _

It’s as she’s turning the most unremarkable corridor yet, her brothers on her tail that she realized the right combination to slide the lock into place. The right words to say to get her the golden star, the phrase to get her everything she’d ever wanted.

_ I heard a rumor that you were not under mind control anymore. _

The halls erupted from chaotic violence to mindless confusion as Allison pressed on, spreading her words as she went. The ceiling shook above her and she could feel the violence behind her leave as whatever grip was on their minds faded into nothingness. 

They blinked back to life, hope glittering in their eyes when they saw the crest of the Academy flash by, a triumphant flag.

Some even began to cheer.

Once Allison’s rumors began to take hold in the stronghold, the once massive crowd of people that had filled the halls was gone almost instantly. It was both an immense relief to see them go and a flash of disappointment whenever one of the others wasn’t among the escapees.

When they ran into a big room that had to be some sort of main foyer, all three of them stopped short and stared. There in the center of the room was the man himself, Zeta aka Leonard. He was moving things around, things that she couldn’t see from the position she was in. His movements managed to be both sharp and slow at the same time, as if each one was a spur of the moment decision that he debated through and through.

Allison raised her head and saw Vanya at the other side of the room, her body trembled and the soft whistles that accompanied her powers echoing around the chamber.

Allison lifted her hand, with three fingers raised, meeting her sister’s eyes.

1...2...3

Vanya screamed, unleashing her fury onto the walls just as the rumor tore out of Allison’s throat

_ I HEARD A RUMOR THAT YOU ARE NO LONGER UNDER MIND CONTROL _

The walls collapsed around them, the rumbling in their ears growing steadily louder and louder. Must be an after effect of Vanya’s powers.

Leonard set the box down and grinned at Allison, “Hello Rumor. White Violin.” His eyes slid to Vanya, “Others.”

He rightened himself, not pulling out any weapons just chuckling softly. Allison dropped her guard, exchanging glances with Luther and Diego as they witnessed Leonard’s slight breakdown.

Leonard rubbed his hand across his face and looked at Allison with a burning hatred the likes of which she’d never seen before, “Your rumor won’t work on me.”

“I don’t need to be under mind control to hate you.”

* * *

There was something so suffocating and awful about being the guy in the chair.

Ben had been the guy in the chair for multiple years at this point, he knew the deep all-encompassing trenches of anxiety for the sake of others better than he knew the monster in his chest, especially since said monster had disabled all his motor functions past his hips. 

He watched the base doors shutter closed as the horrifying realization came upon him that this wasn’t a friendly base and now his siblings, who were recently recovering from a disruption to their lives, were now trapped within the labyrinth inside. And there was nothing he could do about it. 

No communication lines.

No movement.

No nothing.

Ben was trapped inside a ship, uselessly twiddling his thumbs, while not even knowing if his siblings were alive or dead or fighting for their lives. Whether reinforcements were coming or if one of them was being interrogated. His mind filled with the horrific flashbacks of his brief stint on the battle ground, bodies in his wake, bile on his tongue and snarling in his chest. Heat flooded his face and it’s not until he felt the cool touch of his mother’s hand on his shoulder that the water dripping down his cheeks registered.

“Ben,” She said, her voice as soft and monotone as ever. It’s amazing how she can sound so motherly and yet so artificial at the same time, as if the lines were imprinted into her brain for her to regurgitate in a string of useless sentences and optimistic phrases.

Ben can see it now, him and Mom the only survivors of a massacre that took out the only hope for the Alliance. Him, a useless wheelchair-confined ex-superhero, and Mom, a woman that only had her children. He can see Five’s motionless body from so many years ago, imprinted in his eyelids as a reminder. Even now that he knows that it never was his brother, the body had once been alive. 

Not for the first time, he wondered if this train of thought was what led Klaus to the drug abuse he’d been trapped in before he met Dave. 

“We need to help them,” He murmered, unaware that he was even speaking. 

Mom hummed behind his ear, “There’s nothing we can do.” He glanced out of the corners of his eyes as she moved around him. She smiled down at him, her calm blue eyes just as cold as he remembered, “We’re basically useless up here.”

Her red-stained lips twisted into a smile, but it doesn’t exactly seem as genuine as his childhood memories would have him believe. Ben frowned, “We aren’t though. We have a giant ass ship with weapons and the like, then we should use it.”

Mom’s clouded expression faltered, “How would we?”

Ben bit his lip, staring at the immovable fortress in front of them. It almost seemed to leer at him, its gray walls taunting. You’ll never get them out, it said, you better turn back.

_ No,  _ Ben shouted back to them,  _ I’m coming straight at you! I’ll get them out so I never have to see them dead! _

Before he could fully accept what the monsters told him to do, he was already moving towards the control station, a confused Mom behind him, asking if he was alright and did he need any pain relief for his legs?

Ben sharply replied that he couldn’t feel his legs anymore before shoving the gas lever downwards, propelling the ship towards the mocking ashen wall. Mom practically shrieked when she realized what he was doing. Her hands pulled at his arm, her grip steel as she tried to wrench him away from the lever. They fumbled around each other, each trying to yank the lever in different directions. The ship groaned around them with the strain of being pushed to its maximum limits.

“Ben!” shouted Mom in his ear, her fearful voice pounding in his ears, “What do you think you're doing?”

Ben, in a brief moment that he later described as a stroke of inspiration, looked into his Mom’s cool eyes that still kept their blue tinge even with the white bolt of fear filmed their lenses and replied, “Saving my family.”

He used her stunned reaction to overthrow her grip on the lever, driving it into the panel around it as hard as he could. The pressure from their fall into the building began to show itself as the entire ship shook from the pressure and Ben could feel his ears popping. The monsters in his chest rumbled their protest with the high speed.

The walls changed from mocking to downright terrified as Ben spurred the ship into the side wall that had looked the most condescending.

There’s a jerk that would’ve flown Ben backwards if he hadn’t been sitting, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mom collapsing. 

Then a flare of white-hot pain.

Then the loudest booming noise he’s ever heard in his life as the ship finished it’s descent, ending it’s flight downwards in a fury-fueled blaze powered by it’s desperate driver.

Ben passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :>


End file.
